Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about all of the governmental action against Planned Parenthood and the corresponding backlash from the supporters of the organization.
Discussion about cutting funds for anything is always a surefire way for people to become vocal about an issue these days. I can personally say I never had an interest in Planned Parenthood prior to all the media coverage. Now, I am starting to understand both sides of the argument and the additional services that the organization offers.
Those services include mammogram referrals, STD screenings, STI testing, pap smears and birth control. All women need some, if not all, of these amenities to ensure a healthy life. Despite its common pigeonhole, Planned Parenthood is more than a scapegoat for unwanted pregnancies.
Of course, there are other options for these services (certainly more costly), but there’s a reason why, according to Planned Parenthood, around 2.7 million women access their services annually. Girls run the world and our vaginas need all the help they can get.
On Sept. 29, Planned Parenthood celebrated Pink Out Day, a nationwide rally hosted in support of the nonprofit. Celebrities put a pink filter over Facebook and Twitter profile pictures, alongside the hashtag #StandWithPP.
Celebrity supporters include the likes of Lena Dunham, Hillary Clinton, Scarlett Johansson, Kristen Bell and Natasha Lyonne, to name a few.
Should our tax dollars fund women who repeatedly make poor life decisions? Most definitely not, but that’s where it’s hard to differentiate between the good and the bad associated with Planned Parenthood.
I don’t believe that women who were sexually assaulted or have an at-risk/life-endangering pregnancy should be stripped of their only chance at healthcare. How pro-life can you be if you stop caring about the people’s lives that are already at stake?
This may seem to be a predominately feminist issue, and you’re right¬¬ – there are significantly more female supporters voicing their opinions. However, men also benefit from Planned Parenthood, and male politicians are notoriously known for discussing the legalities of women’s bodies.
Planned Parenthood receives $500 million in government funding, which totals more than 40 percent of its total $1.3 billion funds for the year.
The House of Representatives voted two weeks ago to freeze the funding, but the vote failed to pass in Senate. Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, is testifying in front of Congress regarding allegations that Planned Parenthood profits from abortions after pro-life activists leaked a supposedly edited video.
It is true Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America and its business model is centered on abortion. However, funding for the procedure only amounts to three percent.
The thing is, conservatives would agree with 97 percent of what Planned Parenthood does and hardcore conservatives, 66 percent. The media skews the argument, focusing on the radicals in each respective group.
Not to mention, the two main sources of federal funding are from Medicaid and a federal family planning program, Title X. That means that the majority of the funding is literally coming from Medicaid reimbursements, which means lower-income women go to Planned Parenthood for sexual healthcare and Medicaid gets the bill.
There is a possibility of a government shutdown over the issue and even though a government shutdown changes virtually nothing, it is still an extreme measure to take. Hey, government, if you’re looking for organizations to stick your nose in, look at major business moguls or the billion-dollar cancer industry.
For example, most of the money donated to the Susan G. Komen organization funnels down to CEO Nancy Brinker’s padded salary and actual breast cancer research is an afterthought. A 2013 NBC News investigation revealed that Brinker received a 64 percent pay raise that year, while only 20 percent of the foundations donations actually goes to research efforts.
The Susan G. Komen organization profits off of people’s pain and suffering whereas Planned Parenthood is there to ease it. The ball is in your court, America.
