The constant debate over the defunding of Planned Parenthood has heated up recently with the new administration in office. Vice President Mike Pence has spoken out against abortion on multiple occasions, and more recently, House Speaker Paul Ryan released a "defunding" bill regarding Planned Parenthood. Although Ryan hopes to strip all funding from the women's health service to align with the new administration's healthcare plan, I'm curious to know whether Ryan and other politicians are actually against the organization or if they, like countless other Americans, only relate it to abortion.

It is essential that Planned Parenthood remains funded. The most common misconception connected to the organization is the idea that it hands out abortions to whomever wishes to receive one. That's just not the case. In 1973, Roe v. Wade granted women the constitutional right to choose abortion, but the Hyde Amendment was enacted to prevent Medicaid dollars from paying for abortions unless in the cases of rape, incest, or if the mother's health is compromised. So no, your tax dollars are not going toward "unethical" abortions.

Furthermore, abortions only account for three percent of Planned Parenthood's services. Ripping away its funding will take away from the multitude of healthcare services provided such as contraceptives, prenatal care, STD treatment, cancer screenings, etc. If anything, the organization is helping to prevent unwanted pregnancies far more than it is getting rid of them.

Look at it this way:

There are roughly 428,000 children in foster care in America at this second. This number goes up every single day. Fortunately, a large number of these children will only spend two years in the system before they are either adopted or returned to their families. However, despite the common misconception that those in foster care are young children, a significant fraction actually age out of the system and enter adulthood without a family. It has been proven that young adults unlinked to a family have a higher likelihood to experience homelessness, unemployment and incarceration throughout his/her life. It's a vicious cycle that is simply getting worse as time goes on.

If Planned Parenthood is shut down, these numbers and statistics will experience a dramatic leap, and not just because abortions will still be accessible. It's not about how easy it is to get or how many are administered, it's about prevention. The organization serves all women, but is known to help young adults -even teenagers- access birth control. Since children in foster care are commonly children of young parents, providing accessible and affordable contraception to young women is essential to easing the system's overcrowded population and allowing for easier placement/adoption of children currently living within foster care. It's important to provide help for women who are planning for a family, and prevention for those who aren't.

The Planned Parenthood debate is much larger than the argument for or against abortion, but it seems to me that it is only balancing on that topic. It shouldn't be about political parties, and it sure as hell shouldn't be about what some man on Capitol Hill has to say about the decisions I make with my body. Women's healthcare shouldn't be a question.