Planned Parenthood is not our enemy, and it is about damn time people realize that. The center offers a variety of services ranging from general health care to STI/STD testing. Planned Parenthood is a health center that assists women and men with their health (sexual, and non-sexual) and life planning. There seems to be an idea that this health care center only cares about sexual health related issues, mostly abortions, but Planned Parenthood does a variety more than just that. In fact, abortions are the least common services that people receive there—3% of their services are abortions to be exact.

According to their website, they offer “anemia testing, cholesterol screening, diabetes screening, physical exams, flu vaccines, help with quitting smoking, high blood pressure screening, tetanus vaccines and thyroid screening.” And that is only the general health care that they provide. Sounds like a wonderful place right? Well, our president wants to strip this center of funding based off of one service it provides: abortions.

Despite acknowledging that it does help millions of women, the pro-life president wants to defund Planned Parenthood, because “of the abortion factor, which they say is 3 percent. I don't know what percentage it is—they say it's 3 percent. But I would defund it because I'm pro-life. But millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood." This was said by then presidential candidate Donald Trump on February 26, 2016. Now, almost a year later, Trump has won the election, and the POTUS has been taking steps in advancing the defunding. With President Trump reinstating the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule, it is only normal to fear for your rights.

What the Global Gag Rule actually does is prohibit all “global health organizations that receive federal funding from performing or promoting abortion as a method of family planning in other countries.” So not only is the POTUS trying to take away a woman’s right within the country but is also putting women who do not have access to affordable health care overseas in danger. To be even clearer, this policy bans any nongovernmental agencies that receive family planning to use any money, even which does not come from the US to promote abortions. Seems unreasonable, right? Well, this is just the first step in defunding centers that offer abortion services. As President Trump takes more action it is only a matter of time before Planned Parenthood is no longer funded by our government. But to say it louder for the people in the back, Planned Parenthood does not use any of the government funding for abortions, therefore we should not support the POTUS’s stance to take funding away.

To break it down, a majority of Planned Parenthood’s funding is actually from Medicaid and Title X. According to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, when “politicians talk about defunding Planned Parenthood they really mean blocking patients who rely on public health care programs from getting their care at Planned Parenthood centers.” With Planned Parenthood's affordable health services this means people with lower incomes, or those who do not have access to another center, would lose their health services. If you still do not understand, the picture below breaks it down even more:

So these women who rely on Planned Parenthood for health service other than abortions are not going to have a place to go to. Now even if one of these women wanted to receive an abortion under government funding they could not. There is this law called the Hyde Amendment that already prohibits women to receive the procedure or pill unless under the circumstance of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger. Even if this woman’s doctor recommends an abortion the woman cannot receive it unless her life is at risk, which blurs the lines for miscarriages. This amendment does not make abortion illegal, but it does limit the service to women who can afford a safe procedure. Despite Medicaid not funding abortions, the amendment does not limit the state to use its own funding to give medical care to Medicaid receiving women of low income. As of 2016, 17 states gave women abortion coverage, which is less than half of the nation. Therefore, Planned Parenthood is not using government funding to pay for these procedures.

Well, what about the funding the center receives from Title X you ask? That does not go to abortion services either. Title X is a family planning program that offers services to women of low income. The Planned Parenthood Fund website states “4.1 million Americans” rely on the family planning service that offers “well-women exams, cervical and breast cancer screenings, birth control and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.” So Title X is not paying for abortions. Title X is providing safe testing and services for women in need. And out of those 4 million American, Planned Parenthood aids 1.5 million of them. If the government ended funding for Planned Parenthood millions of women would lose their health care center.

Before we make judgments, there needs to be some sense of prior knowledge. However, when it comes to controversial issues, like abortions and Planned Parenthood, people seem to just jump to conclusions. I support Planned Parenthood and I believe no man should be able to tell women what to do with their bodies, and to be honest I do not give two damns about what any woman does. It is their choice, not mine, and my opinion should not affect theirs. If they want to have an abortion because they cannot handle the life of being a mother, go ahead, be my guest, because to be frank, it is none of my business. They should live their life for them, not for anybody else.

But let’s make one thing clear, everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and I am not trying to persuade, but rather inform. If the government ends funding for Planned Parenthood it would lead to a health care crisis within the United States. Not just women, but men too would be affected by this. It is time to take a stance, and it is time to be in control of your own body.