Update / Warning! Check out post #66 by DW, and my reply in post #68: it's essential to click through to the .pdf report and look at the original data for yourself.
According to the CNS news report Planned Parenthood Reports Record Abortions, High Profits (link), "During its 2005-2006 fiscal year, the nonprofit Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed a record 264,943 abortions, attained a high profit of $55.8 million and received record taxpayer funding of $305.3 million."
"For the year July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, Planned Parenthood received $345.1 million in clinic income, $305.3 million in taxpayer funding and $212.2 million in donations. Total income reached $902.8 million while total expenses came to $847.0 million, leaving a profit of $55.8 million."
"Cybercast News Service previously reported that Planned Parenthood has faced financial struggles for the past several years. The organization's 2003-2004 fiscal year report showed it was performing more abortions at fewer clinics than in the past." (link to report)
Planned Parenthood no longer refers to adoption or reports any adoption referrals. The previous year's CNS report says: "While Planned Parenthood increased its numbers of surgical and chemical abortions, breast exams at its facilities dropped by 13.3 percent. And the organization aborted 138 babies for every adoption referral to an outside agency, according to data in the report." In the latest CNS report, it says that in the previous year, PPFA reported 1,414 adoption referrals, which Jim Sedlak, executive director of Stop Planned Parenthood (STOPP) International said amounted to one adoption for every 180 abortions. (??)
Apart from that oddity, everybody seems to have predictable views on this. Planned Parenthood is proud that it continues to make "enormous strides toward protecting and strengthening the reproductive health and rights of women and men worldwide," under difficult financial conditions, and considers more government funding appropriate, while pro-lifers are less pleased and would prefer less government funding.
Is the news on Planned Parenthood really "enormous strides" or "this up, that down" or mostly "steady as she goes"?
If Planned Parenthood is correct, are the enormous strides it is achieving mostly to the benefit of the reproductive rights of men, the reproductive rights of women, the reproductive health of men, the reproductive health of women, the rights of younger males, the rights of younger females, the health of younger males or the health of younger females? How are societies, in America and across the world, being reshaped by the boom in reproductive rights and health?
Stepping right away from partisan struggles for a moment, is there anything about these numbers that would suggest that abortion is becoming more like a problem that is "solved" to the tolerable satisfaction of all concerned by tinkering at the margins, like other health related government expenditures, or more like issues such as slavery or civil rights, where it was not possible to avoid a clash in which one or more moral viewpoints were delegitimized? Is there any more or less policy "wriggle room" as a result of these figures?
Stepping back into the heated area of "values", is so small a number of human lives as 1,414 in any sense significant? What are these, that financial reporting should be mindful of them? Does it matter why they are no longer reported? Is it better or worse that reporting now omits a statistically irrelevant marginal issue and focuses on the main events? Are there any other issues of values or policy that may arise here?