Thinking back to freshman year health class, I realize my peers and I did not get the health education we deserved, and I'm sure many others can relate. I was taught that sex was only okay between a man and a woman, should only be had after marriage, and the only purpose it served was to create a child. If a woman didn't plan on having a child, she was not serving her purpose in life. And god forbid LGBTQ+ people, and the purpose they serve on this earth.
Aside from that, my health teacher expected every single one of my high school classmates to practice abstinence - failing to educate us efficiently on other forms of contraception. It's like she knew nothing about the raging hormones and curiosity that comes with pubescent teens. Spoiler alert, lots of people in that classroom went on to have premarital sex, against her will.
Planned Parenthood is a healthcare organization designed to make up for the public education system's lack of inclusive sex ed. Although widely controversial in the media due to their take on abortion, Planned Parenthood is helpful in so many ways. They provide sex education for different body types and sexual identities, STD testing, cancer screenings, birth control and so much more for all people. Recently, Title X has been changed, and now says that healthcare providers funded by the government, such as Planned Parenthood, are forbidden to inform their patients on safe abortions. People who do not support abortion put a negative light on Planned Parenthood as a whole because they think that its only purpose is to give abortions. They fail to see how helpful it can be in other ways.
Defunding Planned Parenthood means it will not be as easy to access these resources. Already, low-income families, people of color, and other communities are limited to the health care resources they have access to. And who is to say that they don't need cancer screenings, that they shouldn't be having safe sex, that they do not deserve birth control? At this point, it's not a question about abortion, it's about getting the resources we deserve and need.
In some counties where Planned Parenthood lends its services, there are no other health care providers around, so it really is a last resort option for some people. 2.4 million people in the US benefit from Planned Parenthood's services, and losing that is not a small scale issue. This can turn into a nationwide crisis.
White men in congress are deciding the fate of women, people of color, LGBTQ+ youth, and other marginalized communities receiving services from Planned Parenthood. We need to spread information on the purpose of it, and end the stigmatization that it is based solely on giving information about abortions (also a fundamental human right, I might add). For more information, go to istandwithpp.org. Get educated, and speak up for what is right.
