People hear the phrase “Planned Parenthood” and by default their thoughts go to abortion. Some anti-abortion protesters will use Planned Parenthood as a scapegoat for the entire business of abortion, claiming that the majority of the services they provide are abortions at the expense of taxpayer’s dollars.
This is completely false.
By the regulations put in by federal law, Planned Parenthood can’t put any of their government funding into abortion services because it isn’t considered to be family planning.
Every person deserves the right to easily accessible reproductive healthcare. Many people don’t have the financial means to pay for a private practicing doctor any time they need specialized and immediate care.
This is where Planned Parenthood saves the day. They offer affordable high-quality healthcare, accept Medicaid, most insurance plans and provide free condoms to everyone and birth control to those who qualify. They even have special prices for teenage care due to the low-income status most youths are in. Included in their services are general health care, birth control, HIV testing, men’s health care, emergency contraception, STD testing and treatment, women’s health care and abortions.
Here’s a breakdown of their services: 35 percent STD and STI testing and treatment, 35 percent contraception, 16 percent cancer screenings and prevention, 10 percent other women’s health services, three percent abortions and one percent other services.
You read that correctly. Only three percent of all the services it provides are abortion.
Most arguments against Planned Parenthood turn a blind eye to the many helpful and potentially life saving services that the business offers to men and women alike. Many of the clinics don’t even offer abortion services, such as both the Baton Rouge and New Orleans locations.
We live in a world that is constantly trying to dictate what women can and can’t do with their bodies. Yes, things have gotten better, but that doesn’t mean they’re where they should be. Conservative government officials, mostly men, are the ones trying to take away these fundamental and essential care options.
Sadly, the argument these officials have for defunding this amazing care provider is solely based on the fact that the company offers abortions. If you were to walk into a group of protestors and ask them, “So, are you protesting because they offer cancer screenings and STD testing, or is it because they offer education-based family planning?” you might be greeted with a minute of silence before they were able to gather their thoughts.
What would anyone gain by defunding Planned Parenthood? Maybe a few less dollars spent in taxes, if your taxes are even going to them. But in the grand scheme of an
individual’s life, you gain nothing.
All abortion arguments and stances aside, here is the cold truth about them: unless you’re the person getting the abortion, abortions don’t affect you. Read that again, because few people understand this concept. You may love babies and you may think that taking away a person’s right to “kill” said “baby” is making the world a better place, but the only real thing you’re doing it using your hate and narrow-minded belief about the sanctity of life to dictate
someone else’s.
Many women are completely reliant on Planned Parenthood as their primary health care provider. To take away these clinics is to take away a vital part of a woman’s ability to have a high quality of life. To defund the company would mean women not getting the cancer screenings, birth control and testing they need to stay healthy.
People in favor of defunding this wonderful service need to look past the silly three percent of abortion services and see the bigger picture.
It’s not about abortion, and it’s not about money.
It’s time to bury this argument and understand that what one person decides to do with their body and where they choose to get care from will never affect anyone but that person and it’ll always be that way.