If you were to go on the street and ask people walking by about the services provided by Planned Parenthood, the majority would tell you about their abortion services. Abortion is a controversial topic and I have found that the word ‘abortion’ is often manipulated by the media as a means to sway the public’s opinion on the matter. As I understand it, Planned Parenthood provides various healthcare services, and it’s my prerogative to choose whether or not I use them.
Despite being one of the many healthcare options provided by Planned Parenthood, abortion has become synonymous with the organization. Additionally, it has now become the reason for why some states, like Louisiana and Alabama, want to cut the organization’s funding, despite the fact that federal funding doesn’t cover abortions under the Hyde Amendment. I am appalled at the notion of defunding an organization that provides much more than abortions. Defunding Planned Parenthood would only hurt the millions of patients who utilize the organization as an affordable healthcare service, rather than putting a stop to the select number of people who use it for pregnancy termination.
According to the 2013-2014 Planned Parenthood Annual Report, the government made up 41 percent of all the funding for the year. Cutting their funding is unimaginable, especially considering the fact that the funding assists in providing cancer screening and prevention services, contraceptive services and sexual health resources. In 2013-2014 alone, 487,029 breast exams were performed and nearly 88,000 cases of abnormalities and early-detected cancer were found. What this means is that about 18 percent of those using Planned Parenthood’s cancer preventative services were potentially saved from any further complications. I know that if I were dependent on Planned Parenthood, I would be terrified of the possibility of not having access to these options in the future, especially given their success rates.
In terms of contraception, the Annual Report found over 3.5 million clients who used Planned Parenthood for contraceptive resources. None of those patients sought abortions. It’s because of these services that according to the Office of Adolescent Health, teen pregnancy is at a 20-year low, disproving the stereotype that Planned Parenthood’s only purpose is to provide abortions.
Yes, Planned Parenthood offers abortions as a resource. However, it’s irrelevant to bring up abortion as a reason to halt government funding toward the organization. Using abortion services to try and discredit an organization that provides numerous healthcare services is an abuse of power. Thinking about college students, having access to a clinic like Planned Parenthood is important as most of us are not within reasonable distance of our primary care physicians. Additionally, given that Fairfield is a Jesuit university and does not distribute contraceptives on campus, Planned Parenthood is a reliable source for those students who want to seek those services.
Over 10 million patients used Planned Parenthood as their affordable healthcare service, making up 97 percent of their total business, in 2013-2014. People in support of abortion rights and those who are anti-abortion can agree that these numbers are a clear demonstration of Planned Parenthood’s impact. It’s time that we focus on the concrete impact that Planned Parenthood has had in America.
Affordable healthcare is what’s at risk if lawmakers are successful in their attempts to defund the organization. For a country that has always prided itself as being “for the people,” jeopardizing the people’s, especially women’s, reproductive health is morally questionable. There is a bigger picture that needs to be considered before deciding that funding cuts should be made, such as other methods that could be developed to get the desired results without compromising other programs.
Politics can be a difficult field to navigate and the issues are often incredibly multifaceted. Defunding Planned Parenthood isn’t going to hurt where people think it will.
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