First things first, women’s healthcare is not only an inherent right, but also a constitutional one. Planned Parenthood has been an invaluable resource for women since the early 1900s. Arguments against the funding of Planned Parenthood are just getting ridiculously obnoxious at this point. Not a single argument that I’ve seen made against the foundation makes any sense.
The most obvious reason people are against the foundation is because of their pro-life stance, therefore, posing them against abortions. That’s fine; you’re completely entitled to your opinion. But you’ve seen the stats, right? Reports show that only 3 percent of the services that Planned Parenthood provides involves abortions. The rest of it includes STD testing, cancer screening, and contraceptive services, among other important resources for women. I don’t know if you guys have seen this chart, which was released by the Americans United for Life organization (an anti-abortionist group), but it’s pretty great. And by great, I mean absolutely absurd.
At first glance, it would appear that abortions have been on a shocking rise; while prevention services have faced a drastic decline. Upon a closer look, however, you’ll notice that the number above the red arrow is drastically lower than the number on the pink arrow below. Also, the graph is missing X and Y axes, thus making it one of the most useless pieces of data I’ve ever seen.
The argument I’ve heard following this one, however, is that those who take a pro-life stance shouldn’t be forced to pay taxes to fund abortion services. Well if that’s the case, I’d like to stop paying taxes for every resource that doesn’t directly benefit me. If you did your research, you would find that none of your tax dollars are actually spent on abortion services. So, by funding the organization with your taxes, you will never fund a single abortion. Yay!
Yet another argument that I’ve heard is that other medical centers could take on all those left in need, without Planned Parenthood. Right? Wrong. That would cause a huge overflow of patients in other medical centers. That just isn’t something you can do overnight. Similarly, by making it so that women aren’t able to get abortions from a free clinic, we’re putting women all over the world in really dangerous situations. This won’t end abortions. People will go back to coat-hanger and alleyway abortions, and women’s health risks will only increase.
Other negative information involving the organization has had to do with some videos that have been released. The Center for Medical Progress (another anti-abortionist group) has released a series of seven “behind-the-scenes” videos representing all that is wrong with the inner workings of Planned Parenthood. One of the more “shocking” videos had to do with the sale of fetal tissue. Since the video’s release, there’s been copious research looking into the financial history of Planned Parenthood, none of which has involved such financial interactions. Additionally, the donation of fetal tissue is not only completely legal; it’s also highly encouraged by most medical associations. Aside from this fact, the videos have been so heavily edited and taken out of context, that the creator of the films (David Daleiden) has stopped commenting on them all together following their criticism.
I don’t mean to make any negative statements towards anyone’s political or personal opinions on this matter. However, I would ask that you recognize the massively positive impact Planned Parenthood’s work has done; and take the time to truly do your research on some of the outrageous claims being made against them.
Funding Planned Parenthood, and ultimately, women’s healthcare, shouldn’t be a question.
