I'm a liberal. I've always been a liberal. And an integral part of my ideology is respecting others' beliefs, regardless of whether or not they correspond with mine. I respect freedom of religion. I respect freedom of speech. I respect what Immanuel Kant described as the exercise of public reason – the right to speak one's beliefs in the hope of catalyzing broader cultural change.
What I don't respect is trying to impose your beliefs on other people's bodies.
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate voted on a bill to repeal key provisions of Obamacare and completely defund Planned Parenthood. I'm not going to go into details, save to say that the proposed legislation was supported 52-47 by all but a few Republicans and, fortunately, is likely to be vetoed.
I'm going to make some clarifications right now. Many Republicans in the Senate are only in favor of revising Obamacare and do not actively support the defunding of Planned Parenthood. There are, in fact, millions of conservatives in America who are intelligent, rational and compassionate human beings with respect for others' bodily autonomy. I want to make it clear that my issue is not with conservatives or the Republican party as a whole – it's with the people who are actively fighting against an organization which provides screening for STIs, support for victims of sexual and domestic abuse, abortions for women who need them, support for individuals who are queer or non-binary and a national campaign to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health.
Last year, Planned Parenthood received 528 million dollars in federal funds. And our defense budget? 526.6 billion. That's right, our military spending comes to almost a thousand times the funding allocated to Planned Parenthood and senators are still trying to repeal it. If that doesn't say something about where our national priorities lie, I don't know what does.
You could argue that many of these senators are representing constituencies which are overwhelmingly pro-life. But as we should all know by now, this isn't about abortion. Planned Parenthood has proved time and time again that federal funding is not used for abortions. Funding for abortions is actually illegal under Title X, which is dedicated to family planning and other preventative health services. And, you know, I'm okay with that. If you're morally opposed to abortion, not only should you not have to get one, you shouldn't see your tax dollars going towards these procedures. But for the love of god, can we stop standing in the way of people who desperately need affordable healthcare?
If someone needs a safe and effective form of birth control, they should have access to it. If someone needs to be screened for STI's, they should be able to afford the procedure. If someone is suffering from domestic or sexual violence, they should be provided with the resources they need to cope. And if I, as a woman, don't want to undergo the physical, mental and emotional burden of carrying an unwanted child, I should be able to get an abortion. Planned Parenthood is about helping people have autonomy over their bodies and their choices. Let's keep those ideals alive.
