These past few weeks Planned Parenthood has been thrown into the media fire squad after a series of videos were released in July. These videos were highly edited and meant to deceive the public into thinking Planned Parenthood was trafficking aborted baby parts. These videos have been proven to be false, yet the Republican majority, House of Representatives is threatening a government shutdown if Planned Parenthood is defunded. Many Pro-Life organizations are standing behind this, but they don’t recognize that Planned Parenthood does a lot more for women’s health than just abortions. In the 2013/2014 report put out by Planned Parenthood, they calculated that only 3 percent of their services are used for abortions. People need to take a step back and realize that defunding Planned Parenthood isn’t about Republicans vs. Democrats, it’s about the millions of people who rely on Planned Parenthood for their health services. According to Planned Parenthood’s website: over five million women, men, and children use its services a year and receives 450 million in federal funding.
If this funding is taken away, what’s going to happen to the people who rely on its services? Below are six services that Planned Parenthood provides.
- Birth Control. Planned Parenthood has highly informative professionals, in which women can discuss which birth control options are best for them. This is great for women who don’t have anyone else to talk to, or don’t know about all the different choices. College students are having sex, and sometimes the health clinic on campus just doesn’t cut it. At Planned Parenthood, they distribute condoms, birth control patches, birth control pills, and vasectomies for men.
- Morning-After Pill. The pill can be taken up to five days after having unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy. Hookup culture is rampant among college campuses, and the most important thing to remember is to be safe. Most girls in college don’t want to become mothers just yet, and the pill is 90 percent effective. It can cost up to $65 dollars at the drugstores or through your doctor, but at Planned Parenthood they can provide it for less, especially if the women isn’t insured.
- Abortion. People have very strong opinions on whether abortion should be legal or not. The controversy surrounding the Planned Parenthood videos were taken by a pro-life group and many republicans in government are against abortion because it conflicts with their moral beliefs. When it comes down to it, the 58 year old christian senator from Kansas isn’t getting the abortion, it’s the woman who's pregnant. Many people feel that Planned Parenthood encourages abortions because they profit from it, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. They provide information about adoption and parenting, because their mission is to show women every option available to them .
- Services For Men. Although Planned Parenthood is mostly a women’s health clinic, they also provide services for men. These include: colon/prostate/testicular cancer screenings, general health care services, male infertility screenings, and STD testing and treatments.
- STD testings. Planned Parenthood states, “More than half of the population will contract a STD at some point in their life.” That’s really scary. Not all STD’s show symptoms so your FWB could have one, and you wouldn’t even know. These testings are fast and easy and the quicker it gets detected, the quicker you can get treatment.
- Pregnancy Support. Whether you are pregnant, thinking about getting pregnant, or trying to avoid pregnancy; Planned Parenthood can answer any questions you have. Most of us never paid attention in seventh grade health class, especially when they were talking about baby making. Like, come on, there were boys in the room. While some college girls are trying to avoid getting pregnant, others are desperately trying. Knowing precisely when the embryo becomes a fetus, isn’t exactly the most important thing. At Planned Parenthood they provide: pregnancy test, prenatal care, infertility testing, and support after a miscarriage.
These are just a few of the numerous services provided by Planned Parenthood and none of them have anything to do with politics. So to all the politicians out there, why don’t you focus your time on something that will actually help the people, not hurt them. 
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