Planned Parenthood’s website claims, “Only a small number of Planned Parenthood health centers offer the full range of prenatal care services,” though they do offer referrals.
The truth is: Planned Parenthood rarely offers prenatal services—and certainly not a “full range” of them. A select few Planned Parenthood clinics offer limited prenatal services, but most only offer referrals, at best.
Based on calculations using numbers from Planned Parenthood’s own report, 97.9% of pregnant women who sought assistance there had abortions.1 In contrast, prenatal services and adoption referrals made up only about 2.11% of their total services:2
In other words, Planned Parenthood is not about planning for parenthood at all. Their purpose is not women’s health or women’s choice—it’s abortion.
Most Planned Parenthood Clinics Do Not Offer Prenatal Services
Most Planned Parenthood clinic webpages say, “If you choose to continue a pregnancy, we will provide you with a list of resources to help you obtain prenatal care.” Most don’t even include prenatal care in their list of services.
Many Planned Parenthoods do not even mention prenatal care or offer resources for it on their website.
There are a few Planned Parenthoods that offer some prenatal care, but do not mention the nature of these services. A few others specify that they offer early prenatal visits only, before referring the patient for further care. Evidently, their services are limited at best.
Planned Parenthood Employees Say PP Doesn’t Provide Prenatal Care
According to a Live Action investigation, Planned Parenthood’s prenatal care is “virtually nonexistent.” During their research, only five out of the 97 clinics they contacted said that they provided prenatal services.
In these statements, Planned Parenthood employees themselves admit that they do not offer prenatal care—rather that they “specialize” in abortions:
- Tempe, Ariz.: “We don’t have prenatal care here…. Planned Parenthood offers abortions, so they don’t offer prenatal care.”
- Athens, Ohio: “Unfortunately, no, we wouldn’t provide any type of prenatal services here at Planned Parenthood.”
- Albany, New York: “No Planned Parenthood does prenatal care, hon.”
- Farmington, New Mexico: “We don’t offer prenatal care at Planned Parenthood.… We specialize in abortions. You know, that’s what our ultrasounds are for, to see how far along the patient is.”
- Elizabeth, New Jersey: “Planned Parenthood, we do birth control, things like that — terminations. We check for STIs, but we don’t do prenatal.”
- Cornell, New York: “We tell you you’re pregnant and then we offer at Planned Parenthood to do the abortions. So, we don’t do any prenatal services here.”
- Merrillville, Ind.: “No, we don’t do prenatal services. I mean, it’s called Planned Parenthood, I know it’s kind of deceiving.”
It’s a lie that Planned Parenthood helps women plan for parenthood. People believe that Planned Parenthood provides pregnant women with unbiased options and equal opportunities, but this is not true, Planned Parenthood pressures women to have abortions. They don’t encourage women to keep their children or put them up for adoption.
Why then does Planned Parenthood call itself “Planned Parenthood”? Why do its supporters claim it provides health services that it does not? As Live Action president Lila Rose says: “Its executives are conducting a false campaign to preserve the group’s public image.”
To put it simply: they are trying to cover up their lies so they can continue garnering public approval, performing more abortions, and making more money. (In FY 2021-2022, Planned Parenthood made over $1.9 billion, performed 374,155 abortions, and made approximately $280,616,250 from abortions alone.)
This is also why its supporters claim that Planned Parenthood provides other essential healthcare services like mammograms and ultrasounds—another stretch of the truth.
They want to make Planned Parenthood seem essential for women’s healthcare, when it is anything but.
We Don’t Need Planned Parenthood
The fact of the matter is: Planned Parenthood’s one focus is abortion. Women do not need Planned Parenthood to obtain prenatal care or the other healthcare services they need. Many pro-abortion sources say that abortion is only 4% of Planned Parenthood’s services. But this is only one of their many myths. Abortion is their business, and the 4% lie is a dishonest representation of numbers.
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, we have more than enough healthcare providers besides Planned Parenthood. The HRSA funds almost 1,400 health centers and over 13,500 service delivery sites across the U.S.:
Every state has a free or reduced cost prenatal care program operating through local health departments. If you’re interested in learning more about the program in your area, call 800-311-2229.
Additionally, Catholic Charities gives support to those who need help. You can find a location near you by clicking here. Thousands of pregnancy centers across the country also give free help to women in need. Sometimes, these centers even give out free baby supplies and provide references for other needs.
It is essential to receive care during pregnancy to keep you and your baby safe. If you are pregnant, don’t hesitate to begin seeing a doctor. It is even recommended to start doing so before you are pregnant to ensure you are healthy and to address any concerns (sometimes called pre-pregnancy or pre-conception care). The first prenatal visit may include reviewing medical history and taking measurements, a Pap smear, pelvic exam, and blood tests to ensure you and your baby are doing well.
Prenatal Testing for Abnormalities: Easy Funnel for Abortion
One way that abortion clinics may push a patient to have an abortion is whether they determine that the baby has an “abnormality,” such as a birth defect or Down syndrome. Such abnormalities can sometimes be detected through ultrasounds or tests, but such measures are not always accurate.
PP rarely performs ultrasounds for any reason other than abortion. However, if they do find an abnormality with an ultrasound, this is an easy way to convince the patient to have an abortion. An estimated 60-90% of all Down syndrome babies are aborted in the US, compared to 18% of all pregnancies ending in abortion.
This article was originally published in August 2022 by Emily Capps and was most recently updated in January 2024 by Marisa Cantu.
+ Endnotes
[1] PPFA’s 2021-2022 Annual Report. Page 29 lists the services they provided to pregnant women: 374,155 abortions, 1,803 adoption referrals, and 6,244 prenatal services. Thus, we can calculate that 97.9% of those services were abortions: 374,155 / (374,155 + 1,803 + 6,244) = 0.9789 = 97.9%.
[2] Ibid. (1,803 adoption referrals + 6,244 prenatal services) / 382,202 = 0.0211 = 2.11%.
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Marisa Cantu has a master's in political science and international affairs and a bachelor's in political science. She has also studied international studies and French. She has a strong background in nonprofit work, research, writing, and policy proposal and analysis.