A topic of hot debate lately is Planned Parenthood. A ridiculously large amount of people are against this nonprofit health organization. And why? Because they're against abortions.
I have a few things to say about this. Planned Parenthood is an invaluable asset to women -- and men -- across the country. Planned Parenthood provides much more than just abortions: It provides information and testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), gender and sexuality inclusive resources for health, relationships and guidance, and stunningly open resource pages on sex and sexuality. In a country where sexual education is still boiled down to abstinence in some states, having a place where young people can go and find information and help regarding sex and sexual health has an immeasurable value. Planned Parenthood even has a project known as Teen Council, a group of caring high school students who go around to other schools and shed as much light on sexual education as possible.
When Teen Council came to my high school, they dealt with vitally important topics such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and reproductive health. As a resource for women's health with and without sex, Planned Parenthood is accessible, cheap, and wonderfully informative.
On another vein, Planned Parenthood does provide abortion services. Which is completely fine! Women are legally allowed to receive abortions. No group of old white men has the right to tell women that they need to give up their bodies for nine months to an alien presence. No matter the reason. Victims of rape deserve the right to abortions. Women with complications in their pregnancies deserve abortions. Women whose pregnancies threaten their lives deserve abortions. Women who simply don't want to have a baby deserve abortions.
No lawmaker has the right to police women's bodies. Trying to defund an organization such as Planned Parenthood based on notions of male superiority and propriety over women's bodies and existences is absurd. Because of their ideological aversion to abortion, Congress (mainly Republican) has voted, yet again, to defund Planned Parenthood. Never mind that taxpayer money legally cannot go towards abortions, and therefore defunding would not take money away from abortions in and of themselves, rather defunding Planned Parenthood would prevent countless low-income women from receiving any form of healthcare.
This is a profane attack on women. This has nothing to do with the illegality of the sale of fetal tissue. The videos provided in 2015 by an anti-abortion group have been largely debunked, and multiple federal investigations into the incident have turned up no evidence of illegal activity in the organization -- this is all about bitter old white men pouting over the fact that they are losing their vice-like grip around women's bodies. We must stand up as a community of women, a community of people, and tell the government that we do not belong to them, and we will stand with Planned Parenthood and we will stand up for our health, our bodies, and our rights.
