Tis the season to give and I am asking you to give me your attention for a moment. I wanted to discuss why Planned Parenthood needs our support more than ever. With the possibility of Ohio’s “Heartbeat bill” any clinic that has the facilities to perform safe abortions is at risk as well as the women (also transgender, gender fluid and non binary people capable of becoming pregnant) who may need to seek the option of a safe abortion. I put emphases on the word safe, because at the end of the day those who want an abortion will get one. By closing down clinics (like Planned Parenthood) it will ensure suffering a death from so many. According to the World Health Organization 21.6 million women perform unsafe abortions (18.5 are from developing countries where abortion may be illegal or to expensive and that contraception can be scarce). On top of that 13% of maternal deaths are from unsafe abortions (“Preventing Unsafe Abortion”). Those deaths could have been prevented with the access to safe medical facilities like Planned Parenthood. While the access to safe abortions is a huge reason why Planned Parenthood should stay open it is far from the main service that these clinics do.

The main service that Planned Parenthood does is STD testing according to their website. They do approximately 4.2 million test and treatments for STDs. This work is life saving! Speaking of life saving according to their records, “Planned Parenthood provides more than 270,000 Pap tests and more than 360,000 breast exams in a single year, critical services in detecting cancer.” This is amazing work and this alone should be enough of a reason for anyone to support Planned Parenthood. 2.5 Women and men (yes men) seek Planned Parenthood for medical assistance and 1 in 5 women will visit them in their lifetime. Only 3% of the services performed at Planned Parenthood are abortion related and they receive no government funding for abortion related procedures (Parenthood).

Planned Parenthood is important to so many people here are some personal testimonies from people who support them (*note names have been changed to protect the women since it can be seen as taboo to support this important cause).

Carrie (21)- “I would say it is important because women who may not have access to healthcare have an opportunity to have access.”

Alexa (19)- “After I was rapped my senior year of high school, I went to Planned Parenthood for STD testing and they were so kind. It was the first time I felt safe since my attack.”

Lisa (20)- “I believe in a woman’s right to her own body and the right to get the right health care to protect her. No matter who you are or how much you make.”

Dani (20)- “I support women’s rights to safe, non judgemental healthcare regardless of their socioeconomic status. No one does that better than Planned Parenthood.”

So how can you help out?

By being educated, donating (time or money), getting involved in Generation Action at your college and being supportive to those who have received care. These doors will stay open with your help.

You can use this link to go to Planned Parenthood’s Website:

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/get-involved