My uterus has been up for debate ever since the primary elections last year. Not my uterus, but every uterus out there. The odd thing is, those without a uterus, are the ones who are making decisions about my uterus and every uterus in America. In a country that people like to claim is so progressive, we had a recent turn of events. When I say recent, I mean the moment I am typing this, I am reading the article saying that President Trump has officially signed the bill saying that states can defund Title X. In case you do not know what Title X is, it funds low-income, uninsured families to have access to family planning and related preventative health services, among other services. Low-income family planning and prevention is, you guessed it, Planned Parenthood.
Now you may be asking, why does it matter? Historically liberal states will not lower funding, right? The problem is that it may be only liberal states that do not lower or diminish funding, but I live in Indiana. Home of Vice-President Mike Pence, who many people probably already know, is not known for being an ally of women, racial minorities, or lgbtq+ members. Though he is no longer the governor of Indiana, our new governor, Eric Holcomb, is also not very well known for being a go getter on women's issues.
I, a woman, have issues that need to be fought for, but right now, that doesn't seem to be happening. I come from a low-income county, and if you look at the results of the most recent elections, I am from the one of three counties that went democrat in Indiana. I have had the priviledge to have insurance if I ever decided to go on birth control, but where I am from, most of these humans with uterus' do not. The only jobs left where I am from are across the state border or are restaurant jobs. This is a lose-lose scenario for most of the population because 1. If they do have a car, they have to pay Indiana and Illinois taxes, as well as, additional fees, or 2. If they don't have a car, they have to work these restaurant gigs that offer no health insurance."Poor people" in Lake County have shorter life expectancies than "poor people" in top 100 largest commuting zones. This isn't just the reproductive health anymore, but overall health.
Planned Parenthood offers only 3% of services as abortions. There's the word we were all waiting to read here wasn't it? Abortions are NOT federally funded, so why is our biggest concern about abortions? No matter what your standing is politically, it is time to grasp the fact that Planned Parenthood does not equal abortions. Planned Parenthood has 9% of it's services to be cancer screenings, three times the amount of abortions. Shutting down PP is not ending abortions, but ending safe abortions, as well as, preventative options, cancer screenings, and services for those who decide to keep the baby.
Wait! Planned Parenthood wants to help people keep their bundle of cells and create humans?! Why yes, yes they do.
I just want to leave the readers of this article with one question. If you or your loved one needed healthcare, would you want to deny it to their faces?
