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Death Gold

Wealthy Benefactors Pour Money into Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles

By Bob McPhail

Of the $11.9 million in revenue that Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles reported to the federal government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1999, more than $1.4 million came from rich and famous benefactors like Abigail Van Buren, Johnny Carson and Barbra Streisand. The local affiliate of the world's largest abortion provider has attracted the largesse of the well-heeled for years, either in the form of direct personal contributions, or grants from private foundations they founded.

Carson and his wife gave $10,000 personally and another $10,000 via the John W. Carson Foundation Inc. Streisand funneled $10,000 to Planned Parenthood through the Santa Monica-based Streisand Foundation, while Van Buren's was a personal gift of $15,000.

Other wealthy benefactors pour big money into Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles. Since 1996, the Ahmanson Foundation of Beverly Hills has donated a total of $800,000, including $200,000 in 1999. The foundation is funded from the estate of the late billionaire H.F. Ahmanson, one-time owner of Home Savings of America, who amassed his fortune providing home mortgages during the housing boom of the 1950s and '60s. Los Angeles-area landmarks that bear Ahmanson's name include the Ahmanson Center Theatre at the Performing Arts Center, the Ahmanson Gallery of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Ahmanson Center for Biological Research at USC. With assets of more than $750 million, the Ahmanson Foundation is among the country's wealthiest.

The S. Mark Taper Foundation of West Los Angeles has also been generous to Planned Parenthood. Although Planned Parenthood received no money from the foundation last year, it reports having received $750,000 from the Taper Foundation since 1995. Taper, a millionaire savings and loan CEO and real estate developer, established the foundation in 1989. He died in 1994. The foundation gave $5 million to the Seattle Symphony in 1997, and is also associated with large contributions to the arts in the Los Angeles area. The Mark Taper Forum at the Performing Arts Center bears his name. Other facilities bearing the Taper name include the S. Mark Taper Amphitheater in Beverly Hills, the Mark Taper Center for Health Enhancement at UCLA, the S. Mark Taper Imaging Department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and the S. Mark Taper Foundation Transplant Center at St. Vincent Medical Center, part of the USC School of Medicine.

The Anna H. Bing Living Trust gave Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles $150,000 in 1999, another $150,000 in 1998, $270,000 in 1996 and $188,173 in 1995. Socialite Anna Bing was the 1983 recipient of the UCLA Medal, described then by the university as "a philanthropist and humanist." Her name is attached to buildings, schools and museum pieces around the region, including the Anna Bing Arnold Children's Center at CSU-LA, the Anna Bing Theatre at USC and the Bing Nursery School at Stanford University. Trust fund money comes from the fortune of the late Leo Bing, a millionaire real estate developer. Anna Bing's son, Dr. Peter S. Bing, administers the trust. He is a member of the board of trustees at Stanford University.

Other contributors to Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles include: Mrs. Ann L. Nichol, $1 million, 1997; Estate of Martha Kilroo, $864,770 in 1998; Mr. and Mrs. Ray Stark, $25,000, 1999. Ray Stark was the producer of Funny Girl, The Way We Were and Steel Magnolias. He contributed $10 million to the Motion Picture & Television Fund to establish Ray Stark Villa in Woodland Hills.

Sterling Franklin, a member of the Sierra Club's national advisory council and Zero Population Growth Pasadena/San Gabriel, gave $10,000 in 1999.

Natalie Janger, a real estate agent with the prestigious firm Dalton, Brown & Young of Beverly Hills, contributed $11,000 in 1999.

Patricia Oppenheim, a member of Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles' board of directors, a member of the board of trustees of the UCLA Center on Aging, the Chancellor's Associates at UCLA and the board of Women in Philanthropy at UCLA, gave $100,000 in 1999.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Munger donated $110,000 in 1999. Charles Munger, a longtime associate of billionaire Warren Buffet, is vice chairman of the world-renowned investment firm Berkshire-Hathaway and also sits on the board of Costco.

Mrs. Harry Lenart gave $10,000 in 1999. The Yvonne and Harry Lenart Auditorium at the Fowler Museum of Cultural History bears their name. She is on the board of Women in Philanthropy at UCLA, and the Lenarts have also been contributors to the Institute of Archeology at UCLA.

Corporations and other foundations that contributed to Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles in 1999 include: The Joseph Drown Foundation of Los Angeles -- $100,000. The foundation is named after Joseph Warford Drown, a hotel magnate who once owned the Hotel Bel-Air.

Deloitte & Touche, the international consulting firm, donated $5000.

Fred H. Bixby Foundation, named for the Orange County rancher and real estate scion, donated $35,000. The foundation also endows the Fred H. Bixby chair in "Population and International Health" at the UCLA School of Public Health.

The California Wellness Foundation of Woodland Hills donated $162,054.

The Carsey-Werner Company, producers of such television programs as 3rd Rock from the Sun, Cybill, the Cosby Show, Roseanne and That '70s Show, donated $5000.

The Samuel Goldwyn Foundation, funded from the estate of the motion picture mogul of the same name, donated $5000.

Turner Entertainment Company (as in CNN and Ted Turner) donated $5000.

The Walt Disney Company donated $5000. The archdiocese of Los Angeles lists the Walt Disney Company and the Ahmanson Foundation as contributors to the new cathedral.

In addition to voluntary contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations, Planned Parenthood-LA also received substantial subsidies from government funds paid for with taxes. Government grants totaled $708,363 for fiscal year 1998-99. During that period, Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles employed 193 people at "health centers" in Burbank, Canoga Park, El Monte, Hollywood, Lakewood, Lawndale, Boyle Heights, Pomona, Santa Monica, Van Nuys and Whittier, with a payroll of just under $5.9 million. Among the best paid employees were president and CEO Nancy Sasaki, $118,111; physician Dr. M. Gatter, $114,434; physician Dr. A. Mercurio, $89,067; vice president of finance T. Ryder, $86,245; and vice president for community service E. Gray, $83,066.

Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles also holds a substantial investment portfolio, with a total value reported at more than $3.9 million, including $1,054,866 in U.S. Treasury notes, $459,715 in corporate obligation bonds and nearly $2.2 million in stocks. Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles owns more than 1000 shares in the following companies: Excelsior International Fund, General Electric Co., Intel Corp., Lowes Companies Inc., McDonalds Corp., Pepsico Inc., Pfizer Inc., Sovereign Bancorp Inc., and Wells Fargo & Co.

While Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles reports on its federal tax form that it is engaged in no political lobbying activity and is not associated with any lobbying organization, its own website at www.plannedparenthood-LA.org belies that assertion. There you can read the following statement: "The Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project is the electoral arm of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles ... whose mission is to elect pro-choice, pro-family planning candidates to office and to lobby the legislature."

Planned Parenthood in neighboring Pasadena notes in its 1998-99 annual report: "Our affiliate's political activities and those of the Los Angeles affiliate recently combined. This step should result in more focused and effective political work across Los Angeles County -- and more pro-choice representatives in Washington and Sacramento." The Pasadena affiliate reported spending $53,679 on lobbying in 1998-99, and a cumulative total of $195,159 since 1995.

That same report revealed that Planned Parenthood of Pasadena, Inc. is seeking to expand its operations. With just $1.4 million in 1998-99 revenues, it was the least profitable of all affiliates in California. "I very much hope that during my term as chair our affiliate will find ways to reach more who need our services," said George A. Brumder, who at the time was chairman of the board. He suggested several ways to achieve that goal, including changing the organization's name to Planned Parenthood of Pasadena, Glendale and the Northern San Gabriel Valley, which "will invite the participation of a broad range of new clients, volunteers and donors, whether they live in Pasadena or in one of the sixteen other communities in our territory." A "special thanks" was extended to the donors who helped raise $528,000 "for operating expenses and for the Special Expansion Drive." Planned Parenthood Pasadena operates four clinics -- Pasadena, Pasadena Northwest, Monrovia and Azusa -- with an annual payroll of $697,768.

President and CEO Elizabeth B. Calleton for the Pasadena affiliate earned $62,572 in 1998-99, not including employee benefits totaling $1,877 and an expense account of $1,729. The Pasadena affiliate reported performing 158 abortions in 1998-99.

While Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles did not report the number of abortions performed at its clinics, it makes it clear that it considers abortion to be a minor medical procedure, telling visitors to its website: "an abortion is twice as safe as getting a shot of penicillin."

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