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A recent article in the National Review asserts that

Planned Parenthood has long been imposing abortion quotas on its clinics nationwide, incentivizing its workers to convince women to terminate their pregnancies

This assertion seems to be based on an interview from a single former Planned Parenthood manager and nurse.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/444685/planned-parenthood-abortion-quotas-exposed-live-action-video?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=desanctis

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    To what end? That's always the question with these strange claims. Why would they ask their clinics to push one service over another when they get paid either way?
    – user11643
    Commented Feb 8, 2017 at 19:18
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    @fredsbend Do they get paid more for one service over another?
    – Reinstate Monica -- notmaynard
    Commented Feb 8, 2017 at 20:26
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    @SalvadorDali The video claims that abortion quotas were tracked, and that workers who were meeting their quotas were given pizza parties, payed time off, and lunch with upper management. The only sources for the claim seem to be Sue Thayer - a born-again anti-abortion activist - and Marianne Anderson who claims she was a nurse at Planned Parenthood.
    – tim
    Commented Feb 8, 2017 at 21:13
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    @DavePhD No, I'm not denying that. She is however an unreliable source. For a claim that is this absurd, I would expect at least some sort of proof (pictures of the tracking software, other witnesses (I mean, there should at least be some women who went to PP and be upset by this, right?), etc). And while the claim about abortions without a doctor may technically be true, it is incredibly misleading, as it is about giving out pills.
    – tim
    Commented Feb 9, 2017 at 17:29
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    @LCIII I am not sure is your question was addressed to me or to other commenters but if it for me, I would like to see evidence of this practice that isn't coming from former workers turned anti-abortion activists. Some independent verification of these claims.
    – DQdlM
    Commented Feb 9, 2017 at 19:50

2 Answers 2

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Planned Parenthood does not agree that "quota" is the correct word to use.

enter image description here

In July 2014 Planned Parenthood acknowledged that the above image is genuine, but stated it does not represent a "quota", but instead:

The entire basis of their claim was a photo of a certificate that Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains gave to a health center for increasing its abortion services ...yes, we absolutely do celebrate our progress in ensuring that more people have access to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion. And we always will.

(Image source)

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    Do you have a source that they acknowledged the image as genuine? The linked article does not seem to mention it. I'm asking b/c the article that you linked as the image source is clearly biased and would like to find more detailed information.
    – rougon
    Commented Feb 10, 2017 at 15:59
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    Yes, but that article does not have the image or discuss the letter. The letter itself has letterhead, but that's not exactly hard to make. I'm just trying to find independent corroboration of the main piece of evidence in your answer, as well as your claim that they acknowledged that the image is genuine. So far, the only sources you have cited are anti-abortion groups.
    – rougon
    Commented Feb 10, 2017 at 16:51
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    I don't mean to pester, but you still have not shown independent evidence of this letter or PP's response. You seem to have the PP source responding to the letter, so why not post it to support your claim in the answer?
    – rougon
    Commented Feb 10, 2017 at 17:03
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    @rougon Planned Parenthood explicitly acknowledges "a photo of a certificate that Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains gave to a health center for increasing its abortion services " and admits "yes, we absolutely do celebrate our progress in ensuring that more people have access to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion. And we always will." plannedparenthoodaction.org/blog/…
    – DavePhD
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 17:21
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    @DavePhD - the complication is, it isn't clear that the image provided specifically links to the PP response, as the wording "exceeding abortion visits" is different from "increasing abortion services". As I see it, there's three possibilities - either the popularly viewed image (as seen in your answer) is doctored, PP are spinning the meaning, or people are misinterpreting the meaning (if you read "abortion visits" as "people coming to PP to discuss the issue" rather than "people coming to PP and having an abortion", it totally changes the meaning).
    – Glen O
    Commented Feb 15, 2017 at 7:24
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http://www.snopes.com/planned-parenthood-abortion-quotas/

It looks like Snopes did some digging and couldn't find any evidence they consider reliable. After reading the arguments, I have to agree with Snopes. The evidence for quotas is dependent entirely on the word of the accusers. Planned parenthood is a commonly used bogeyman for right wing groups. This accusation seems like the kind of thing people vehemently opposed to abortion might make up.

In the Snopes article, Planned Parenthood denies quotas. "We contacted Planned Parenthood about the claims, and a spokesperson reiterated that Planned Parenthood maintains no “quotas” for abortions or any of the other services they provide. Another longtime employee of Planned Parenthood whom we spoke had never heard of abortion quotas throughout the duration of her tenure with the organization."

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  • Snopes didn't do a thorough job. They ignored witnesses such as Abby Johnson, former director of the Bryant, Texas Planned Parenthood clinic. She was strongly pro-abortion and had two abortions herself. lifesitenews.com/news/… She said her quota was 1,135 abortions per year.
    – DavePhD
    Commented Feb 15, 2017 at 14:22
  • @DavePhd, that site is published by a pro-life lobby group. All of its sources are self-links, or links to fellow travellers.
    – rob
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 0:53
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    @rob ABCnews verifies that Abby Johnson was a real Planned Parent clinic director. abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/… Snopes tries to discredit the other witnesses by saying they were never truly pro-abortion, but they can't say that about Johnson, so they just ignore her.
    – DavePhD
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 15:37
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    When listening to the abortion debate, take everything with a grain of salt. Some people on both sides believe the stakes are extremely high, and some of them believe that the ends justify the means. When reading abortion debates, set your standards for evidence high. I don't believe either side has meet that standard.
    – BobTheAverage
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 17:29

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