Introduction

Today, despite finding no evidence of illegal activity, Republicans are full steam ahead on attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest family planning provider, because its health services include abortion (Dyer h4999). However, defunding the non-profit at the federal level would thereby endanger the lives of 900,000 women. Cancer screens and prevention made up 9 percent of the services offered by Planned Parenthood between 2012 and 2013. Contraception accounted for 34 percent of services, STI/STD testing and treatment made up 42 percent of services. Only 3 percent of services performed were abortions.

The Republicans, as well as others, also believed that birth control can cause abortion. Some birth control methods such as the IUD, Depo-Provera, pills, or even the patch may lead to an abortion. These specific methods plus others may lead to a chemical abortion that causes the uterus to thin out so that the embryo can no longer attach itself to the wall, and if it happens to attach itself onto a wall, it will no longer be a healthy and thick which can lead to starvation and soon dying. One reason for this is that the chemicals in the Pill thin out the lining of the woman’s uterus. As a result, the baby may not be able to implant. At other times the child will attach to the wall, but he or she will be unable to survive because the normally thick and healthy uterine wall has shriveled and is therefore unable to nourish the baby. Defunding Planned Parenthood may not decrease the percentage of abortion, like the Anti-Abortion group would want to, but rather increase abortion, death from cancer, and teen pregnancy.

Why there should be continued federal funding to Planned Parenthood

As aforementioned, there is a strong campaign against government funding to Planned Parenthood citing wild allegations that involve abortion and fetal tissue donation. Nevertheless, the conservatives on this debate have failed to say about the good things that come along with Planned Parenthood. It is worth noting that Planned Parenthood provides all sorts of services while concentrating on the women’s health. It should be noted that only 3% of Planned Parenthood activities are abortion related. However, this may not be classified as abortion depending on one understands on whether life begins at inception or implantation (McCarthy h5515). Opponents of federal Planned Parenthood fails to understand that over 97% of planned parenthood activities include providing contraception, sexual and reproductive healthcare, early cancer screening, abuse and rape counseling, STDs care as well as pre natal services. It is essential to note that the primary objective of Planned Parenthood is prevention of unintended pregnancies and it is alleged that the services are able to prevent over 600, 000 unintended pregnancies annually. In essence, the Planned Parenthood services are not concerned in abortion but instead they are truly concerned with woman’s health and wellness.

The opponents of Planned Parenthood funding argue that the taxpayers’ money goes directly to fund abortion.  Nevertheless, as aforementioned, only 3% of Planned Parenthood services are abortion related while the rest, 97% is concerned with the women’s health and wellness (Tanne 903-903). One can therefore conclude that depriving Planned Parenthood of government funding would be a great risk to women’s health. This is because lack of this funding would imply that the 97% of Planned Parenthood services on women health and has nothing to do with abortion will be sacrificed (Roehr e870-e870). It is wise to note that in every one of five American women have used the group’s services and most of them are low income earners. It is therefore wise for the government to ensure that women’s health is not at risk and they have access to proper medical care.

As aforementioned, proponents of defunding planned parenthood argues that most of the funds go into funding abortion activities and consider abortion as tantamount to murder. Nevertheless, the defunding exercise would only serve to increase the number of unwanted pregnancies and consequently increase the number of abortion cases. In fact, these anti-abortion crusaders would be lobbying for increased funding for Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provides birth control services. It should be noted that some of the birth control methods used in Planned Parenthood do not necessarily translate to abortion. For instance, Depo-Provera, intrauterine device (IUD), oral contraceptives and the patch are some of the commonly used birth control methods. Although some people consider these methods as abortifacient, I am strongly against this belief. All these birth control methods are known to cause the thickening of the mucus lining thus preventing fertilization. Opponents of Planned Parenthood argue that abortion is tantamount to murder and hence if there is no fertilization, then there is no life lost. It is worth noting that these birth control methods prevent formation of the embryo. If the state withdraws the funding, there will be increased unwanted pregnancies that will eventually lead to increased cases of abortion thereby creating a paradox (Dyer h4999). It is worth noting that even defunding the Planned Parenthood would not be a remedy to stop abortion as there are several other private clinics that offer abortion services and are not yet closed. This would only be a boost to them as the number of unwanted pregnancies would increase and hence giving them a chance to conduct abortion on these pregnancies.

As aforementioned, defunding of Planned Parenthood would only worsen the health standards of American women.  Over the years, the organization has used to state funding to provide many essential services to poor and uninsured American women. This implies that defunding the program would lead these women helpless as they have no financial strength to seek the essential reproductive services provided by Planned Parenthood. Besides issue of contraceptives, Planned Parenthood also offers other essential health services such as STD testing and cancer screening amongst women. It is worth noting that seventy five percent of Planned Parenthood services include STD testing and treatment as well as provision of contraceptives. It is also imperative to note that Planned Parenthood has programs to provide contraceptives for free or at subsidized prices to women (Dyer h4999). The effectiveness of such programs depends entirely on the state funding to Planned Parenthood. Any attempt to defund the organization would mean that a good number of low income women would have to bear the high cost of reproductive health services provided by private clinics and other healthcare providers. This is a clear indication that Planned Parenthood provide essential health care services to a large population of American women and it would therefore be unwise to defund the program.

It is also important to point out that the essential health services provided by Planned Parenthood are not always readily accessible and hence it would be unwise to defund the facility. Statistics indicates that one fifth of counties that have a Planned Parenthood clinic do not have any other health facility that offers family planning services (Roehr e870-e870). This is an indication that Planned Parenthood serves a big American population especially in areas where there are no alternatives. It is prudent to note that the services are not only for the poor in the society but caters for all women in need of reproductive health services. Besides the provision of contraceptives, the facility also helps in testing and treatment of STDs and HIV. As a result, Planned Parenthood plays a significant role in ensuring that there are controlled HIV infections amongst the American population. It is therefore very sad to see some people against the federal funding of Planned Parenthood despite the provision of these essential services that would otherwise be difficult to get. Although the Planned Parenthood clinics accounts for only 10% of all the family planning clinics in the United States, it is worth noting that they serve over forty percent of clients demanding family planning services (Tanne 903-903). This proves that despite them being small in number, they serve a vast amount of people and it would look foolish defunding such an important facility.

Stripping Planned Parenthood of funds implies that the facility will no longer afford to provide essential health care services to the endless list of American women in need of these services. Among low-income women who receive publicly supported contraceptive care at clinics, more than one-third use Planned Parenthood clinics, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The proponents of the idea of defunding the facility fails to address or provide an alternative where these women would get the essential healthcare services. It is prudent to note that there is no capacity to meet the demand for women in need of healthcare services and this capacity won’t magically spring up overnight (Roehr e870-e870). This implies that any attempt to defund the facility will cripple its operations and consequently a huge population of American women will suffer immensely from lack of reliable reproductive health care providers. Lack of contraceptives and other birth control services will lead to increased number of unwanted pregnancies which will consequently lead to more abortions.

Lack of family planning services to women will not only lead to increased cases of abortion but will also lead to other social problems. It is wise to point out that family planning processes have benefited the society in a variety of ways and lack of these services would be detrimental to the American society. For instance, family planning has saved several lives, opened new horizons for women and has maintained a steady population growth over the years. Since the passing f legislations that allowed women to get access to contraceptives that would allow family planning and spacing out pregnancies, the country has experienced some notable improvements in decline in the number of maternal deaths. Statistics also indicates that the number of unwanted births have also declined significantly as a result of legalized access to contraceptives. It is imperative pointing that Planned Parenthood is a major provider of contraceptives that provide these services to more than two million women annually. This implies that Planned Parenthood is the largest America’s abortion preventer. Depriving the institution of the much needed federal funding would mean that the facility will not be able to provide the services and consequently increased cases of abortion as well as uncontrolled population growth that would be detrimental to the social and economic welfare of the Americans.

As aforementioned, Planned Parenthood is the leading provider of contraceptives and other health reproductive services in America. Stripping government funding to the facility would mean that a great deal of American women would not have access to essential reproductive healthcare services. This would not only be a threat to the health of a woman but would also lead to low economic progress amongst American women (Dyer h4999). It is vital to note that access to birth control in the United States has also contributed significantly to narrowing the income inequality gap between American men and women. Use of contraceptives has given women the freedom to make choice about when to have children thus giving them an opportunity to acquire career skills and also have enough time to concentrate on their careers. It has been noted a significant increase in the number of women in institutions of higher learning since legalization of contraceptives in the United States (Roehr e870-e870). It is wise to note that the health and well being of a society depends heavily on the status of its women. With this in mind, it is wise concluding that much of the economic success experienced in America today can be attributed to the gains resulting from better reproductive health care provision from Planned Parenthood. This adds weight to the claim that defunding the Planned Parenthood would not only be a health threat to women but also counterproductive to the whole American society.

Stripping Planned Parenthood of funding is a move that would lead to lack of essential health care services including family planning to millions of women in the United States. This would be one of the most regressive moves in the American history considering the massive benefits resulting from the program (McCarthy h5515). Allegations that the funds from taxpayers are used to procure abortions are unfounded and should be condemned with the strongest terms possible. Planned Parenthood offers other essential services besides provision of contraceptives that include cancer screening, STDs testing and treatment. These are fundamental services in any state and any attempt to defund the organization would cripple such operations thus leaving American woman exposed to numerous health concerns (Dyer h4999). It should also be noted that money from government is safely guarded and cannot be used to procure abortions and hence calls to defund the organization should be stopped with immediate effect.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, defunding of Planned Parenthood is a negative move that should be fought against for several reasons that includes and not limited to negative repercussions for public health. It is imperative to note that defunding the organization would not only be a threat to the health and well-being of women but would also have adverse economic repercussion to the society. The allegations that the organization engage in abortion and sale of fetal tissues are unfounded and uncalled for. There is no sufficient evidence to link the organization with such vices and hence denying millions of women their basic health needs based on such allegations would be unwise. Conservatives argue that the contraceptives used are form of abortions and abortion is equivalent to murder (Tanne 903-903).  This is self contradicting since any attempt to defund the organization would lead to increased cases of unwanted pregnancies and hence more abortions. It is therefore better to allow controlled birth since it does not entail abortion. It should also be note that the organization does not only offer the contraceptives but is also involved in cancer screening and testing of STDs. These are fundamental services to Americans and hence the campaign of defunding the organization should be brought to an end.

Work cited

Devi, Sharmila. “Anti-Abortion Groups Target Funding Of Planned Parenthood”. The Lancet 386.9997 (2015): 941. Web.

Dyer, Owen. “Planned Parenthood Accuses Anti-Abortion Group Of “Corporate Espionage” For Promoting Misleading Video”. BMJ (2015): h3996. Web.

Dyer, Owen. “Republicans Across US Take Aim At Planned Parenthood”. BMJ (2015): h4999. Web.

Jackson, Sharon et al. “Women’s Health Centers And Minority Women: Addressing Barriers To Care. The National Centers Of Excellence In Women’s Health”. Journal of Women’s Health & Gender-Based Medicine 10.6 (2001): 551-559. Web.

McCarthy, Michael. “Democrats Block Vote On Bill To Deny Federal Funds To Planned Parenthood”. BMJ (2015): h4236. Web.

McCarthy, Michael. “Planned Parenthood Stops Taking Reimbursement For Fetal Tissue Donations”. BMJ (2015): h5515. Web.

Roehr, B. “Charity’s Decision To Cut Funding To Planned Parenthood Sparks Controversy”. BMJ 344.feb03 2 (2012): e870-e870. Web.

Tanne, J. H. “US Congress Asked To Suspend Funding For Planned Parenthood”. BMJ 335.7626 (2007): 903-903. Web.

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