April 2016 Newsletter - Pregnancy Support Group

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April 2016
THE PREGNANCY SUPPORT GROUP OF WOODLAND
Committed to Providing Positive Alternatives to Abortion
The following is a very informative and thought provoking article that is worth reading. We have used
Guttmacher stats for many articles over the years. Since they are the shameless research arm of Planned
Parenthood (PPH) any statistics that cast PPH into a negative light must be true. To hear that they might
be hiding correct information regarding PPH's missteps is very interesting. Anyone who knows even a little
bit about statistics or science will know how wrong it is to delete a single data point in order to make the
information fit the way you want. We simply call that a lie.
Guttmacher Erases Data To Protect Planned Parenthood, IUDs
By Willis L. Krumholz, April 12, 2016, The Federalist
Planned Parenthood’s research arm is hiding data to
bolster claims that Planned Parenthood and IUDs are
reducing unintended births among poor women.
Despite acting as the research arm of Planned
Parenthood for America (PPFA), the Guttmacher
Institute has a reputation for putting out honest data.
That reputation should change. Increasingly,
Guttmacher’s need to protect Planned Parenthood,
the nation’s largest abortion provider, is eroding its
penchant for honest statistics.
Earlier this year, I wrote about how Guttmacher used
an incredibly misleading statistic to grossly understate
Planned Parenthood’s presence in poor,
disproportionately black communities. I’ve also
written extensively about how the market
consolidation and subsequent lack of competition
among women’s health-care providers that are
accessible to poor women, coupled with a large
payout for abortion, gives PPFA the incentive to
provide substandard care to poor women. Since
abortion provides Planned Parenthood more revenue
after expenses than birth control does, it has reason
to undersupply birth control so more women desire
abortions.
As one piece of evidence for this, I noted that as
Planned Parenthood’s market-share vastly increased
in the 1990s, the number of unintended births among
poor women spiked. This is where yet another
Guttmacher data change recently arose.
Planned Parenthood’s Corporate Turnaround
First, some backstory. How did the increase in market
share come about? A series of Harvard Business
School case studies from 1997-98 focused on the
challenges facing PPFA in 1994: “During the late 1970s
and the early 1980s, PPFA, like many other healthcare
providers, had experienced rapid growth, with annual
revenues exploding from $80 million to over $400
million between 1978 and 1990… By the early 1990s,
however, PPFA revenue growth had flattened, and
beginning in 1992 the net margin had begun to
decline.”
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The Harvard study noted that much of the decline in
margins and stagnation of revenues was due to the
ascendance, at the time, of managed care and
Medicaid managed care, which greatly affected PPFA,
as its “clinics operated largely outside of the medical
mainstream.”
Managed care did three things to PPFA: First, by
increasing the pool of individuals with private
insurance that covered reproductive health, managed
care allowed many women to opt for care outside of
Planned Parenthood. Second, by increasing
competition for Medicaid patients because more
providers could afford Medicaid reimbursement rates,
managed care allowed a greater number of Medicaid
recipients to get reproductive health care outside of
Planned Parenthood. Lastly, by increasing the pool of
uninsured persons, the number of PPFA customers
who depended on highly subsidized contraception
also increased.
Things were so bad that internal Planned Parenthood
memos talked about the need for a “reinvention,” and
worried that “affiliates will face bankruptcy within the
next three years” if nothing was done.
In response, PPFA implemented a strategic
realignment that finalized in 1997. The “reinvention
process” included consolidating affiliates and moving
to larger clinics (to harness greater economies of
scale), a rebranding campaign, and increasing
“financial incentives.”
At the same time, Planned Parenthood’s competitors
were being driven out of the market. Abortion
researcher Andrew
Beauchamp has noted
that increased state
regulation, allowed by
Planned Parenthood v.
Casey (1992), began to
drive smaller clinics
specializing in
reproductive health out of
the market in the mid1990s and set up barriers
to entry that entrenched
the surviving clinics
(PPFA), and allowed the
survivors (PPFA) to raise
abortion prices.
The result was a marked
increase in PPFA’s market
share, measured by abortions, and skyrocketing PPFA
revenue, going from $400 million in 1990 to $1.3
billion today.
One of These Graphs Is Not Like the Other
PPFA had its turnaround, but the result for poor
women wasn’t so good. They had little “choice” of
contraception provider outside of a Planned
Parenthood clinic. According to Amanda Marcotte, a
left-wing blogger writing for the American Prospect,
the average abortion patient used to be “[a] middleclass, white high-school or college student with no
children whose bright future could be derailed by
motherhood,” while today she is more likely “a twenty
something single mother of color,” because of an
unexplained “[l]oss of [birth control] access for poorer
[minority] women” in the 1990s.
To back up this point, I’ve always used a graph (see
below, left) from Guttmacher, which shows
unintended pregnancy rates for poor American
women dropping until 1994, then skyrocketing by the
next time data was collected, in 2001.
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But when Guttmacher released its most recent report
on unintended pregnancies in the United States, in
early March 2016, the original graph appeared, plus a
new data plot for 2011, but minus the data plot for
1994 (see graph above and to the right). According to
Guttmacher’s text that accompanied the graph, “After
rising for most of the 30-year period beginning in
1981, unintended pregnancy rates among poor
women have recently begun to decrease [emphasis
mine].”
The smoothed graph is still available in the PDF fact
sheet. It also appears—albeit in a version where the
deletion of “1994” is less noticeable—on a page
related to, but not linked to, the press release (see
below).
This is important: that 1994 datapoint showed that
unintended births among poor women were declining
before Planned Parenthood or the intrauterine device
(IUD) came along, but quickly reversed as PPFA’s
market share and competitive position strengthened.
Then, around April 2, 2016, the new “smoothed”
graph was oddly removed from the main press
release, and the URL was changed due to a website
update:
The old URL: https://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FBUnintended-Pregnancy-US.html
The old URL’s “Wayback Machine” web archive:
https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.guttmac
her.org/pubs/FB-Unintended-Pregnancy-US.html
The new URL, first captured by the “Wayback
Machine” on April 2, 2016, where the smoothed graph
is taken out, replaced by a graphic of the United States
that now appears twice, for no apparent reason:
https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintendedpregnancy-united-states
After the website updates, the graph on the left
turned into the graph on the right:
Starting on March 30, I called Guttmacher’s listed
media contact on this press release to ask for a
comment. I’ve called more than ten times since then,
and left several messages, including on the media
contact’s cell phone, and I’ve received no response.
Either way, the damage is already done.
Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
At best, this is Guttmacher trying to further the false
narrative that IUDs and Planned Parenthood are
finally beating the tide of unintended pregnancies. At
worst, this is Guttmacher trying to cover for PPFA,
whose ascendancy corresponded with worse
outcomes for the women it claims to serve.
Unintended pregnancy rates were falling
until the mid-’90s and then they suddenly
shot up.
Whatever the motivation, the media picked
up the Guttmacher press release and ran
with it, running stories claiming IUDs
stopped an unstoppable trend. Outlets that
ran the story include Medical Daily, Yahoo
(via Mic), CNN, various regional
newspapers, and (of course) Vox.
The truth is that unintended pregnancy
rates were falling until the mid-’90s and
then they suddenly shot up. Why did they
shoot up? If IUDs are so great, why was the
unintended pregnancy rate lower in the
early ’90s, before IUDs were as widely
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used? If Planned Parenthood is so great, why was the
unintended pregnancy rate lower in the early ’90s,
before Planned Parenthood tripled its market share?
Guttmacher has put its need to protect Planned
Parenthood and the “stories” the Left tells us about
family planning above the truth. You can’t just delete
a data point if it doesn’t fit your narrative. The prochoice Left does this regularly, with statistics,
history—a lot of things. There are lies, damned lies,
and Guttmacher’s statistics.
This article originally appeared in The Federalist on
April 12, 2016.
http://thefederalist.com/2016/04/12/guttmachererases-data-to-protect-planned-parenthoodiuds/#.Vw7joMTErdM.mailto
Willis L. Krumholz lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He
is a JD/MBA graduate from the University of St.
Thomas, and works in the financial services industry.
Pregnancy Support Group would also like to extend our condolences to Scott & Donna
Hawkins and their daughter and son in-law, Chris & Julie Clasbey, for the loss of their
son (the Hawkins grandson) Ethen. We pray the Lord brings your family great peace
during this sad time.
March 2016 Outreach
New Clients ..................... 16
Births .............................. 11
+ve Pregnancy Tests .......... 2
-ve Pregnancy Tests ........... 1
Ultrasounds..................... 12
Diapers........................1,221
Client Visits ................... 142
Men’s Classes .................... 5
PAC Classes ....................... 3
Baby Items .................... 232
Spiritual Growth .............. 48
Meet Carol Duty,
PSG Director
PSG BOARD:
President
V P
Secretary
Treasurer
Board Member
Board Member
OFFICE STAFF:
Director
Office Admin
Admin Assistant
FMP
VOLUNTEERS:
Gerald Shearman
Pastor Dave Tucker
Margaret Walton
Donna Hawkins
Dooba Eibensteiner
Nancy Osborn
Carol Duty
Linnea Herger
Suzanne Grey
Kathy Martinez
Elaine Bedford
Dominic Murphy
Rachel Tucker
Chris Dodson
Carolyn Madsen
Maria Cuevas
Valerie Toland
Victoria Conklin
Bensie Cheney
Alan Reiff
PSG would like to thank the
following:
Sean Provost of Dutch Brothers for
numerous donations of baby and
household items. They have been
greatly appreciated by our young
mommies.
(Men's Program)
Laura Patera
(Christian Counseling
Support)
ST. James Parish for their very large
donation of paper products that will
provide necessary office supplies for
months to come.
The Big Winners of Pregnancy Support Group's
1st Annual "Golf Fore Life" are...
Team Scramble 1st place
Team Scramble 2nd Place
Team Scramble 3rd Place
Women's Long Drive
Men's Long Drive
Other Golf winners were:
Snow Landscape
Team Kauffman
Team Routt
Valerie Toland & Rebecca Restreppo
Ryan Gross
Lloyd Brown, Dave Hardagon, James Dove
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We were blessed with a wonderful turnout for our 1st Annual "Golf Fore Life", despite the rain.
Thank you to everyone who participated and most especially to our gracious sponsors...
Tournament Sponsors
Birdie Level Sponsors
Broward Builders Inc.
Albertazzi Construction
Snow Landscape - Davis, CA
The Tremont Group, Inc.
Growers Ag Service
Agriform
Lifepointe Church
Par Level Sponsors
Best Western Lodge - Davis, CA
Wilbur-Ellis
The Californian
Capital Partners Development Co.
College Golf Fellowship
Power Level Sponsor
Woodland-Davis Termite & Pest Control
Finesse Level Sponsors
Frontier Ag Co Inc.
Brooks Painting, Inc.
Golf Tournament Raffle Prize & Prize Sponsors
Golf Club Donations
Athletics Clubs
Eating Out
El Macero Country Club - Team Scramble
Golf Foursome plus cart (1)
Cross Courts
Gift Certificate for a 1 month "Family
Membership" worth $199.00
Don's Diner
Gift Certificate $25.00 (1)
Yolo Fliers Club - Team Scramble
Golf Foursome plus cart (1)
Yocha De he Golf Club - Auction
Golf Fees for 2 plus cart and practice balls
Davis Golf Course - Team Scramble
Foursome of Greens fees (1)
Automotive Donations
Vanderhamm Tire Center - Long Drive or Raffle
Lube Oil Filter Gift Certificates (2)
Precision Auto Center
Gift Certificate up to $35.00- Service and Safety
Inspection (1)
Master Tech
Gift Certificate up to $37.00- Full Service Oil
Change (1)
Big O Tires - Men's Long Drive or Raffle
Gift Certificate- Oil Change (up to 6 Qts of oil) (1)
Les Schwab
Emergency Road Kit (1)
Sparkles
Gift Card- Car Wash (1)
Elm Ford - 1 Oil Change Raffle
Oil Change $50.00 each Available + Ford Hats (3)
Services
Merry Maids
$100.00 Gift Certificates (2)
$100.00 Available (1)
Entertainment
Woodland Opera House
4 Tickets - The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe
2 Tickets- Westside Story
Blue Note Brewery
Growler & Fill
The Oasis
Punch Card (1)
Gifts
Mengali's Florist - Women's Long Drive or
Raffle Gift Certificate $40.00 Flowers Only
(1) (Delivery Not Included)
Margaret Walton Avon Representative Women's Long Drive
Large Avon Gift Basket (1)
Raffle Prize (2)
Tractor Supply
Bucket of Tools $100.00 +
Gifted Penguin
Gift Certificate $15.00
Brooks Painting
Insulated Picnic Basket, 1 Bottle of White
Wine, 1 Bottle of Red Wine, 2 Acrylic
Glasses, Napkins, Wine Stopper, Ice Pack $75.00 Value
Grocery
Food 4 Less - $25.00 (2 Given/1 Used)
$25.00 Gift Cards
Salon's
Red's Salons
Hair Cut
The Gallery
$50.00 Gift Certificate (1)
Hairloom
$25.00 Gift Certificate for Hair Cuts (2)
Bag of Hair Products
Roots Salon
Women's Hair Cut (1)
Sinor Salon'
Massage
Hair Cut - Emily
Pete's Pub - Women's 7th Hole, then 2nd
Hole Gift Card $25.00 (1)
Court Street Café - Women's 7th Hole, then
2nd Hole
Gift Certificates $25.00 (2)
Paragary's - Women's 7th Hole, then 2nd Hole
Gift Card $30.00 (1)
Putah Creek Café - Women's 7th Hole, then
2nd Hole Gift Card (1)
Ludy's Main Street BBQ
Gift Basket plus $20.00 Gift Card
Subway, 709 Main St.
$5.00 Gift Certificates (3)
(1 $5.00 GC)
In-N-Out Burger
4 Burgers, Beach Towel, & T- Shirt
4 Burgers, Lunch Tote
1 Beach Towel, 1 Large Tote, 1 T- Shirt
Burger & Fry Gift Cards (10)
(2 Burger & Fry GC)
Guinevere's
$10.00 Gift Certificates (2) plus
$20.00 value - ancient pizza dough making
classes (2)
Rico's Pizza
$25.00 Gift Card
Perry's
$20.00 Gift Card
Road Trip
$20.00 Gift Cards (3)
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Congratulations to the Tucker Family!
The Vice President of the PSG Board, DaveTucker, and his family
(wife Brenda and children Josh, Rachel, and Nathan) welcomed a
new addition—Matthew Henry! Born April 18th at 9:52PM, 7lbs 7
oz, 20 inches long.
Pregnancy Support Group’s monthly Life Support newsletter is assembled and edited by Judith Shearman.