Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE), the largest provider of abortions in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont announced last week that they have adopted a “weapons exclusion” in their investment portfolio to no longer profit from the “devastating loss of life and sexual and gender-based violence happening in Gaza.”
The abortion clinic operator’s announcement comes after the organization announced earlier this month that they are projecting $8.6 million budgetary shortfall over the next three years — financial difficulties attributed by PPNNE to increased demand, reduced revenue and “endless political attacks.”
In a statement posted to social media on Friday, Aug. 23, PPNNE announced that their investment portfolio would now include a “weapons exclusion.”
“This means that our investments no longer have the potential to earn interest from companies that profit from violence and war, such as the devastating loss of life and sexual and gender-based violence happening in Gaza,” PPNNE wrote.
The announcement received significant backlash from Facebook users in the comments of the post, who pointed to the fact that PPNNE did not mention the atrocities committed by the Islamist group Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but instead accused Israel of perpetrating acts of “sexual and gender-based violence” in Gaza.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel reportedly involved several incidents of rape and gang-rape committed against Israelis by the Islamist terrorist group.
[RELATED: Maine Senators Join Bipartisan Resolution Condemning Hamas’ Use of Rape in Oct 7 Attack on Israel…]
“It’s funny how there’s no mention of the rapes and murders in Israel?!?! I guess all lives matter to you, EXCEPT Jewish lives. Happy to share this and watch your donations drop,” one user commented on the post.
“So I can’t even support Planned parenthood anymore,” another user commented. “You all are determined to make an omnicause that alienates as many people as possible. Great way to ensure you won’t get as many donations I guess.”
“In taking this stance, you — PPNNE — are saying you want women in the Middle East to be oppressed,” another commenter wrote. “Stopping Israel (the region’s only true democracy, where there is universal reproductive care) from defending itself just guarantees women across the Middle East will ‘enjoy’ the same quality of life as the women and hostages in Gaza.”
In a follow-up post to their social media later the same day, PPNNE appeared to backtrack their original one-sided accusation against Israel, condemning “violence in any form” against both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
“Weapons exclusions ensure our resources are invested in ways that are aligned with our mission: that all people have access to health care when they need it and can lead healthy lives,” PPNNE wrote.
“PPNNE condemns violence in any form at home or abroad: violence committed in mass shootings in our schools and workplaces; violence committed against reproductive health care providers and patients; violence— including sexual and gender-based violence— committed against civilians of any creed or nationality, including Israeli and Palestinian civilians,” they stated.
PPNNE said the weapons exclusion is a “meaningful step in addressing both the violence we are seeing and the feeling of powerlessness that so many of us have been experiencing.”
The abortion provider does not appear to consider using a vacuum to remove a growing baby from a woman’s womb, a common method for abortions used up to about 14 weeks of pregnancy, or so-called “dilation and evacuation” abortions used for second trimester abortions, violent procedures.
PPNNE is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. According to the abortion provider’s public tax filings, in fiscal year the group brought in a nearly $32 million in revenue, including $5.4 million in government grants, and more than $3 million in “federal and state funds.”
PPNNE’s Maine-based political action committee, the Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund PAC, has spent just over $47,000 in the 2024 election cycle, according to filings with the Maine Ethics Commission.
