Planned Parenthood receives record amount of taxpayer support

Planned Parenthood reported receiving a record $542 million in taxpayer support in fiscal 2012, marking a steady increase in government funding despite Republican-led efforts at the state and federal levels to cut off that stream. 

The funding figures were included in the abortion provider's annual report released Monday. The numbers showed roughly 45 percent of Planned Parenthood's budget now comes from taxpayer dollars. 

Pro-life groups quickly seized on the report to renew their calls for Congress to "defund" Planned Parenthood. 

"Americans are sick and tired of underwriting the nation's largest abortion business," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. 

Republican Tennessee Rep. Diane Black said the report "underscores the pressing need to cut off all federal funding for Planned Parenthood." 

The Republican-controlled House voted in the last session to strip federal funding for the organization But the measure did not advance. 

Separate efforts at the state level to yank funding have been blocked by the courts. Mostly recently, a federal appeals court in October blocked Indiana from carrying out a law to cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. 

According to the latest annual report, the $542 million in taxpayer support last year counted Medicaid money. The total represents a steady increase, up 11 percent from $487 million the year before; that amount was up 34 percent from $363 million the year before that. 

Planned Parenthood spokesman Eric Ferrero said in a statement that the latest report shows "that we remain one of the nation's leading providers of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people." 

Planned Parenthood also slammed a renewed effort in Congress by Black and others to strip certain federal funding to the group. 

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