The United Way is defending donations by its local affiliates to the Planned Parenthood abortion company.
Despite an expose in recent years that the Planned Parenthood abortion business sells the body parts of aborted babies, and despite the fact that Planned Parenthood is the nation’s biggest abortion company, a new report indicates that United Way affiliates fund it with millions in donations.
Not only do dozens of United Way affiliates donate to the Planned Parenthood abortion business, but those donations have increased over the $2.5 million LifeNews reported the United Way giving to Planned Parenthood in 2015.
Last week, 2ndVote, the conservative watchdog for corporate activism, released its annual findings on United Way’s financial support for Planned Parenthood. The report released exclusively to LifeNews tracks 1,200 United Way affiliates.
Analysis of the most recent IRS Form 990 filings and other documentation found 62 United Way affiliates sent $2,756,799 to Planned Parenthood abortion organizations in tax year 2016. 2ndVote’s latest findings indicate an increase of $168,806 from the $2,590,994 United Way funneled to Planned Parenthood in 2015.
Now the nonprofit agency is defending donations, saying the financial support for the abortion corporation is no big deal because only “a small number” of its affiliates back Planned Parenthood. In a new statement posted on its web site, United Way says:
All local funding decisions are made by the individual United Ways with the input of local leaders and community stakeholders. United Way Worldwide does not control funding decisions by local United Ways. In many instances, funding for Planned Parenthood is the result of specific direction from individual donors, including those from the United Way Worldwide Donor Advised Giving program.
Out of 1,129 local United Ways in the United States, only a small number (less than 3 percent) provide direct support to Planned Parenthood. The amount of financial support represents less than one tenth of one percent of total United Way revenue.
But United Way’s financial support for the Planned Parenthood abortion business enables it to kill unborn babies in abortions.
“Every year, 2ndVote takes an extensive look at United Way affiliates that help fund the world’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood,” said Executive Director Robert Kuykendall. “Our research is designed to give conservatives and pro-life activists a resource to make sure their charitable donations won’t be used to support Planned Parenthood’s abortion business.”
“According to Planned Parenthood, an abortion can cost up to $950. This means United Way dollars essentially paid for the equivalent of at least 2901 Planned Parenthood abortions over the course of a single year,” continued Kuykendall.
2ndVote’s research found United Way affiliates in 29 states with financial ties to Planned Parenthood. Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and Florida are the top five states for United Way support for the abortion giant.
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“Year after year, we find United Way’s greatest financial support for Planned Parenthood occurs in so-called battleground states. Given Planned Parenthood’s political presence in these states, it is especially concerning that United Way would be a top donor and financial conduit in these areas,” Kuykendall said.
Even though donations are on the rise, the number of United Way affiliates supporting the abortion business is dropping. The 62 United Way organizations that contribute to Planned Parenthood represent the lowest number for a single year since the project started.
Kuykendall concluded, “Planned Parenthood is being exposed for what it is: an abortion business and a left-wing political operation. We believe that our research is giving conservatives and pro-life activists a resource to hold organizations like United Way accountable. Using our donated dollars as leverage is great way to get non-profits to stop supporting Planned Parenthood’s abortion agenda.”
The research for this update was conducted using the most recent Form 990 filings of United Way affiliates. At the time of publication, updated 990s for 3 of the previous donors to Planned Parenthood were not yet available.
How can pro-life advocates find out if their local United Way agency donates to the abortion giant? The group tells LifeNews that its handy guide makes it easy to figure out which ones partner with Planned Parenthood. The ‘Pro-Life Guide to United Way’ was released on 2nd Vote’s website and contains a state-by-state list of every United Way in the United States. Each entry shows the amount of money donated to Planned Parenthood by that affiliate with a link to tax forms documenting the expenditure.
ACTION: Contact United Way with your complaints.
