Since the members of Congress are debating about whether or not to continue to fund Planned Parenthood and are considering shutting down the government, costing the U.S. billions, until they decide, we might as well review all of the facts before continuing with such a big decision.
According to their website, Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization that was started in 1916: "Two years after coining the term 'birth control,' Margaret Sanger began a revolution in a Brooklyn storefront. She opened America’s first birth control clinic, laying the groundwork for what is now Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She was then jailed for 30 days for breaking the 'Comstock Law,' which forbade the discussion and dissemination of birth control."
Since then, the services have expanded to not only supplying birth control, which Obamacare makes free for all generic brands, but they now offer the morning-after pill, emergency contraception, education about STDs, and STD testing, which covers: Chancroid, Chlamydia, Genital Warts, Gonorrhea, Hepatitis B, Herpes, HIV and AIDS, HPV, Molluscum Contagiosum, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Pubic Lice, Scabies, Syphilis, and Trichimoniasis. That sounds like a lot more than just abortions to me.
Probably the most important aspect of Planned Parenthood are the services they offer to women, including: breast cancer screenings, treatment of endometriosis, Pap tests and HPV tests, procedures to prevent cervical cancer, female infertility, education about menopause and menstruation, treatment and diagnosis of ovarian cancer, pelvic exams, UTIs, treatment of yeast infections, and treatment of vaginitis. You might think it's a long, boring read, but I thought it was important to fully list all of their services, because this is a non-profit that is so much more than just abortions, which only make up three percent of the services they offer.
The most crucial aspect of Planned Parenthood is that most of their services are covered under their patient's health insurance. They also participate in a federal funded program, which Republicans are debating cutting off, which allows Planned Parenthood to supplement birth control, gynecological care, and other reproductive health services for women who cannot pay full price for health care services.
But since politicians only seem to focus on the abortion aspect of Planned Parenthood, think about this: what if you were raped by a stranger or a family member and became pregnant because of the attack? What would you do?
Think about this abortion story that was shared on Mother Jones' website: "Dana Weinstein chose to terminate her pregnancy when she learned her fetus suffered from a severe brain disorder." Her baby might not have even survived to full term, and if it did live, it would have lived a life of constant seizures and in a perpetual vegetable state. Weinstein worries about other women in her position. "Abortion is a right and if that right is taken away, people like me won't be able to make the choice that is right for their child in pain," she says. "I couldn't sit back and watch women's rights be chipped away by people who have never walked in these shoes."
Women from all over the nation are weighing in because this affects every woman in a big way. They've even started a hashtag called Shout Your Abortion, which is meant to empower women and start positive conversation about the subject: "My abortion was in 2008. It saved my life and allowed me to escape an abusive, emotionally and physically violent man. #ShoutYourAbortion,"Twitter user meagrim reapers (@mgnwrites) wrote on Sept. 21.
Members of Congress want to take away rights from women, rights that we have fought so hard to have in the first place; politicians that refer to rape and abortions in this manner: “If a woman has (the right to an abortion), why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman?” Lockman said in a press statement. “At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death.” That was a direct quote from the Representative of Maine back in 1995.
If you don't think that's relevant enough, what about this quote from Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock in 2012, “I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
Who are we to say what is a "gift" and what is a curse? Who are we to decide what choice a woman should or should not make with her own body? I'm not saying that politicians are wrong, or that women are right (even though that's usually how it ends up), but there has to be a point where the government takes a step back from issues like funding Planned Parenthood and agree to disagree. The point of our government is to ensure equality among the citizens in the United States and to do what is best for everyone. But is cutting off funding for cancer screenings, contraception, and testing and treatment of STDs what's best for our country? Before our elected politicians make such a huge decision that will affect millions of women and men in the U.S., maybe they should review all of the facts before stopping funds to services that not only keep people educated about sex, but also saves lives from life-threatening diseases.
