This election, the debate over whether or not the government should continue to fund Planned Parenthood has been strongly debated by the two main parties, with the ‘Why should my tax money fund a group that performs abortions? I am pro-life’ argument being the main source of contention for conservative opposers voting to defund the organization. Unfortunately, the initial thought of ‘abortions’ after hearing the name ‘Planned Parenthood’ often clouds people's perspective of the organization.

However, if more people knew of the extent of health care coverage that Planned Parenthood offers, public opinion of the organization would likely shift. On Planned Parenthood's website, the organization calls itself the nation’s “leading providers of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men and young people, and the largest provider of sex education.”

Only 3% of all services provided by Planned Parenthood are abortion-related. The other 97% of services offer undeniably vital health care to 2.5 million men and women in the United States every year.

First, the vast majority of services the organization offers are actually related to preventing unwanted pregnancy (that means preventing abortions). Planned Parenthood provides services and guidance to people about contraceptives ranging from condoms, birth control and IUDs to vasectomies, tubal sterilizations and hysterectomies. If you take away funding for Planned Parenthood, you increase the likelihood of unsafe and unprotected sex, unplanned (and dare I say unwanted) pregnancies and demand for abortions.

Second, Planned Parenthood performs over 4 million STI/STD tests each year. In addition to diagnosis, they also treat afflicted patients. Do you want to leave millions of people dealing with sexually transmitted infections and diseases on their own? If you take away funding for Planned Parenthood, you strip people of resources needed to treat afflictions that affect more than half of Americans during their lifetime.

Third, a service of Planned Parenthood that many Americans are not aware of are their cancer screenings. As a community where movements like SMAC, the Student Movement Against Cancer, and Relay for Life are so important, this is an aspect of the organization that everyone should all be able to personally support, understand, appreciate. Who hasn't been affected by cancer? People that do not have access to general physicians or gynecologists rely on cancer-screening services provided by Planned Parenthood to keep them safe. Planned Parenthood screens for breast, cervical, testicular, prostate, and colon cancers. If you take away funding for Planned Parenthood, you limit people’s access to cancer screening and cancer prevention.

Fourth and finally, the most important thing Planned Parenthood provides its patients with is information and education. To have a healthy lifestyle, it is essential for young people to understand how and why their choices affect their body. In a country where abstinence-only sex-ed campaigns are steadily gaining popularity, places that give all the facts and options to their patients are a breath of fresh air. It is a necessity, now more than ever, to educate people on how to be responsible and take care of their bodies. If you take away funding for Planned Parenthood, you keep people in the dark, uneducated and unaware of how to maintain their bodies.

The bias against Planned Parenthood prevents people from learning about the services it provides. It prevents people from understanding the the importance of its work. It prevents people from taking advantage of the services Planned Parenthood has to offer.

The stigma against Planned Parenthood and the people who use its resources needs to be eliminated. It is not just for ignorant, immature, irresponsible teenagers who want an easy ‘out’ after getting pregnant in high school, like so many people against funding the organization claim. Planned Parenthood stands to serve people of any gender or age or race or socioeconomic status or sexual orientation looking to take their health into their own hands, be informed and make responsible decisions about their bodies and their lives. Planned Parenthood provides care. No matter what. Should we, as a country that holds safety and protection in the highest regard, really want to defund that?