Thursday, February 4, 2016

Defund Planned Parenthood



                When it comes to healthcare, it is imperative that women and men have access to birth control, STD testing services, and cancer screenings. It is also incredibly important that low-income individuals have a place to turn to receive affordable services. There are many comprehensive clinics that can provide these services, clinics that are not Planned Parenthood.
            Planned Parenthood should be defunded, and that money should be rerouted to community clinics which can help women and men receive the services they need. There are 13,540 comprehensive care clinics compared to 665 Planned Parenthoods in America: That is a ratio of 20:1 (The Daily Signal). Community health centers exist to provide comprehensive care to millions of uninsured Americans, so women and men would still have options.
            Planned Parenthood needs to be defunded for a host of reasons. One is their disregard for human life. To those who support abortion, it is a women’s right. To those opposed, it is the murder of a preborn baby. To the latter group, it is abhorrent that taxpayer money is funding the largest abortion provider in America. While federal money cannot go directly to abortions, it can go to other services, freeing up money to be used for abortions.
            While it is often stated that only 3% of services PP provides is abortions, this number has been shown to be a misrepresentation. PP performs about 330,000 abortions a year. By its own accounting in its 2013-2014 annual report, it provides about as many abortions as Pap tests (380,000). In addition, abortion is considered as a service that is no different than a pregnancy test, even though a box with two pregnancy tests can be bought from the store for less than $10 (NY Post). An abortion, on the other hand, can cost up to $1,500 according to PP’s website. So, money wise, abortions are a huge part of what Planned Parenthood does.
            Another concern with PP is the adoption referral to abortion ratio. In its annual report from 2012, Planned Parenthood claimed it did 327,166 abortion procedures in the course of one year and only 2,197 adoption referrals. That is approximately 149 abortions for each adoption referral. Women have consistently stated that they are not told about adoption, that they are made to believe abortion is the only choice for them. This is a tragedy, since for every 1 baby put up for adoption, there are 36 couples that wanted that child due to their own, or their partner’s, infertility (Lifenews).
            In addition, PP is not safe for young women. Recent undercover footage by Lila Rose’s Live Action organization shows Planned Parenthood employees in multiple states willing to aid in human sex trafficking of girls as young as 14. It caused Planned Parenthood to call for obligatory training workshops for thousands of its employees on requirements for reporting crime (SBA list).
            There are also many dangers of abortion that many individuals are unaware of. With abortion comes the risk of infection, excessive bleeding, embolism, ripping or perforation of the uterus, hemorrhage, cervical injury, and endotoxic shock (After Abortion).
            Not to mention, there are many psychological issues that can arise due to abortions. Many women through the Silent No More campaign have discussed their abortions and why they are now pro-life, explaining that they turned to drugs and sex out of regret. Many women claimed they had nightmares over what they did, and it impacted relationships with future children and their significant other.  
            Overall, women and men need the best reproductive care, but healthcare should be about saving lives, not ending lives. Money that previously backed Planned Parenthood can instead be distributed to Prolife centers that provide birth control, STD screenings, and cancer prevention/ identification services.
            We need to stop funding the largest abortion provider in America, and see that every life is precious. As Susan B. Anthony said, “No matter what the motive, love of ease, or desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death.”