Planned Parenthood Perks — With These Salaries, They Need Our Money?

By Chanel Prunier | March 8, 2017, 16:50 EST

Late Monday afternoon the Speaker of the Massachusetts House quietly publicly concluded what he should’ve known all along:  the state budget is unbalanced, revenues are down, and leadership would not be able to afford overriding the governor’s recent mid-fiscal-year cuts to programs for seniors, opioid addiction programs, and our State Police.

Last week, Democratic leadership joined with the governor to state there would be one more item they could find the tax dollars for:  Planned Parenthood. The abortion business will likely soon be denied federal funds due to illegal organ harvesting, and other deliberate actions that have jeopardized the safety of women seeking care.

The bottom line from the 2015 videos exposing Planned Parenthood can sometimes be lost in the debate over abortion itself, and the horror of the idea of organ and “fetal tissue” harvesting. In order to properly harvest fetal organs, Planned Parenthood’s doctors alter the way they perform late-term abortions, choosing surgical procedures based not on what’s safest for the woman, but instead to result in the most intact body parts — literally putting profits over patient safety. For that reason alone, they deserve to be defunded.

Both state and federal funds should be re-directed to the commonwealth’s 270 community health centers, which provide real care for women, including mammograms (which Planned Parenthood was forced to admit they don’t provide), and do not spend their funds on political and electoral advocacy against those who oppose them. Part of Planned Parenthood’s budget goes to educational advocacy campaigns in support of politicians like Maura Healey, the state attorney General who was quick to declare there was “nothing to see here” in how Planned Parenthood clinics in Massachusetts operate. Healey publicly called Planned Parenthood’s endorsement a “game changer” in her 2014 campaign for attorney general. Her looking the other way as Planned Parenthood violates the law is no surprise.

Even with upcoming federal cuts, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts is awash in cash. According to a tax form filed for calendar year 2014, the organization’s top five employee salaries are as follows:

President and CEO…. $287,132

 C.O.O ……… $214,716

 Health Services Director……$153,860

 C.I.O ………….$147,641

 Vice President of Health Center Operations …..$140,909

 

Not too bad for a non-profit that receives our tax dollars.

It’s clearer and clearer every day that our elected officials don’t fear their constituents as they once did. They voted for the Bathroom Bill. They passed astronomical pay raises — in some cases casting their first votes ever to hike their own compensation. They’re giving corporate welfare to the billion-dollar abortion industry and its highly paid executives, while cutting public safety and support for our seniors.

What will restore their reverence for the will of the voters? Opposition on Election Day. If you’ve ever considered running for office, now is the time, before it’s too late. The advantages of incumbency (such as fund-raising contacts and name identification) can be overcome by getting started early with proper guidance and training. Don’t wait. A backlash against their overreach is coming. Ordinary voters won’t stand for these things, but there must be candidates to provide an alternative. Are you ready?

 

 

Chanel Prunier is the Executive Director of the Renew Massachusetts Coalition and former National Committeewoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party.