Despite the fact that 2015 was not a good year for the reputation of Planned Parenthood locally or nationally, Planned Parenthood’s killing business in Columbia, S.C., skyrocketed last year, according to newly released data.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) released its annual abortion report Friday, April 22, 2016, showing that the government-funded Planned Parenthood’s abortion business rose by nearly 20 percent (19.8 percent to be exact) while the two private facilities in Greenville and Charleston lost business. Abortions in hospitals also declined.

All abortions occurring in South Carolina rose by a slight 1.2 percent in 2015 after a seven year period of steady decline, the DHEC report shows. (see the graph at www.sclife.org).

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“The uptick in killing unborn children lies squarely with the government-funded Planned Parenthood in Columbia, S.C.” said Holly Gatling, executive director of South Carolina Citizens for Life.

“According to DHEC there were 326 more abortions there in 2015 than in 2014, she said. “It goes to show what government funding does for the abortion industry.”

Abortions Performed in South Carolina by Facilityd: DHEC Data Facility Name Frequency 2015 Frequency 2014 Charleston Women’s Medical Center 1,687 1,887 Greenville Memorial Hospital <5 Unavailable Greenville Women’s Clinic PA 2,073 2,108 Medical University of SC 41 58 Piedmont Medical Center <5 Unavailable Planned Parenthood, Columbia SC 1,971 1,645 Self Regional Healthcare <5 Unavailable Spartanburg Regional Medical Center <5 Unavailable Total 5,778 5,709

Meanwhile taxpayer outrage over the government funding of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry in general is as strong as ever. This year the U.S. House and U.S. Senate voted to remove government funding from Planned Parenthood, but militantly pro-abortion President Obama vetoed the bill. There were not enough votes in the U.S. Senate to override the President’s veto.

On Saturday, April 23, a huge crowd of pro-lifers surrounded the city block on which Planned Parenthood is located off Forest Drive in Columbia, S.C., to observe the nationwide organized protest of the country’s largest abortion provider. Mark Baumgartner, the director of A Moment of Hope, a sidewalk counseling organization that compassionately reaches out to pregnant women going into Planned Parenthood, is disappointed by the DHEC data, but not discouraged.

“We need to redouble our efforts here and not lose heart,” Baumgartner said. “We have seen the facility in Columbia reduce its hours from 44 to 30 per week over the last three years. Let’s not give up,” he said.

Baumgartner told the crowd Saturday, “If we could each take just one hour per week to stand and pray for the unborn here, we could easily have coverage for every hour this place is open. More Christians present means fewer abortions.”

While it is always disappointing to get a DHEC report showing an increase in abortion over the year before, the pro-life movement still stands on the overall lifesaving gains, Ms. Gatling said.

“We mourn the loss of the lives of 5,778 innocent unborn children in 2015,” she said. “But we must give thanks for the lives that have been saved over the years because of the steady, faithful, long-range commitments of the authentic pro-life community.”

“Overall abortions are down in South Carolina by nearly 60 percent from the peak in 1988,” she said. “There are at least 157,486 babies whose lives have been saved over the past 28 years.”