Planned Parenthood

In the wake of the recent elections and the threat that the current administration poses to the health of men and women who utilize Planned Parenthood's services, I became a volunteer at my local Planned Parenthood office.  And I proudly wore pink to the Women's March on Washington, to represent Planned Parenthood.

The threat to Planned Parenthood is very real, the organization is in the fight of its life.

The focus of anti-Planned Parenthood arguments, is, of course, abortion.  Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land since 1973.  Most of us are too young to remember life before abortion became legal. We cannot relate to the subplot in movies like Dirty Dancing, it's beyond our frame of reference. But yes, desperate women sought out back-alley doctors to obtain abortions, doctors who performed painful, unsanitary procedures that often left women maimed, or dead.  Roe didn't create abortions, it created safe and legal abortions.

For 44 years, the Right has attempted, with some measure of success, to restrict a woman's right to obtain this safe and legal medical procedure, to impede a woman from exercising her Constitutionally-protected right: restricting insurance coverage for abortion; TRAP Laws; abortion bans at specific weeks; mandatory ultrasounds and waiting periods, and requirements to attend biased counseling; and "personhood" measures. Planned Parenthood has consistently and continuously fought against such laws and regulations.

No doubt the threat to safe abortions is significant, but that threat does not imperil Planned Parenthood as an organization. The real risk to Planned Parenthood is the attempt by Congress and some states to defund Planned Parenthood's operations.

Abortions only account for 3% of Planned Parenthood's budget, and no, that function is not financed in any way, shape or form by the government.

Planned Parenthood provides low-cost health care to men and women. Its services include sexual and reproductive health care including treatment of STD's, contraceptives, treatment of endometriosis and UTI's, testicular and cervical cancer screenings, and mammograms. Planned Parenthood deals with issues involving gender identity and sexual orientation, body image issues, and sex education.  Some Planned Parenthood Centers even provide general health care,

"Defunding" Planned Parenthood really means blocking patients who rely on public health care, such as Medicaid and Title X, from using Planned Parenthood to provide those services.  Studies consistently show that community health centers could not absorb the 2.5 million patients who rely on Planned Parenthood for these basic services. While Planned Parenthood receives significant funding through private donations, without federal funding, Planned Parenthood's efforts to provide appropriate care would be seriously impeded.

Title X funding is already on the chopping block.  The Title X Family Planning Program has helped millions of people with low incomes afford healthcare such as birth control and cancer screenings. It is against federal law to prevent healthcare providers from participating in Title X programs because they also provide abortions, but a bill passed by both houses of Congress (Vice President Pence broke a tie in the Senate), and signed into law on April 13, repeals Obama-era regulations, and makes it easier for states to withhold Title X funding to service providers such as Planned Parenthood.

Does it not occur to these people that better access to health care and free birth control results in fewer unplanned pregnancies, and fewer abortions?  Studies consistently show the correlation between effective birth control methods and a reduction in the rate of abortions.  Better access to sex education and better access to birth control have a remarkable effect.

Do they not pay attention to what the majority of the American people want?  Poll after poll  after poll shows overwhelming public support for Planned Parenthood.

Maybe it's time for Congress to remember that they work for us, not the other way around.

I stand with Planned Parenthood.  Do you?

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