Why I Stand With Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood has been under massive amounts of fire for the past couple of months, for no legitimate reason. The organization has been criticized for a set of heavily-edited videos released by a Pro-Life extremist group that allegedly show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue. The videos were exaggerated by many political candidates to a large degree to be used against the organization. There was a recent congressional hearing that questioned the Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards regarding the videos, in hopes of strengthening the pleas of the many politicians who are urging Congress to defund the organization. During the hearing, however, the representatives who were questioning President Richards talked over each other constantly, ignoring the answers to their questions. The arguments they were making against Planned Parenthood were flawed, and when President Richards tried to point this out, they refused to listen.

If they had chosen to hear what Richards had been saying, they would have heard loud and clear that Planned Parenthood does not receive federal funding for abortion services. Say it with me now: Planned Parenthood does not receive federal funding for abortion services. That is where the inherent flaw in the argument to defund Planned Parenthood lies. The faulty argument that Congress pulled from the exaggerated and highly-edited videos filmed by an anti-abortion group was used to fuel a pro-life agenda. It does not even make sense when you look at what federal funding for the organization is doing.

A recent NBC poll ranked Planned Parenthood as the most popular political entity in the country, regardless of this recent criticism. Planned Parenthood provides 400,000 Pap tests and 500,000 breast exams every year, helping to detect and prevent cervical and breast cancer. They provide more than 4.5 million tests and treatments for STI’s, including 700,000 HIV tests. They provide sexual education and outreach programs to 1.5 million people every year. Planned Parenthood primarily helps with pregnancy prevention; 80 percent of the women who walk into Planned Parenthood are there for birth control or other forms of protection from unwanted pregnancy. What is often ignored is that only 3 percent of women who utilize Planned Parenthood are there to use the abortion health services. Not only are 0 percent of the federal funds that the organization receives put towards funding abortions, but only 3 percent of the services Planned Parenthood provides are related to abortions.

Planned Parenthood is more than abortions, and it is more than a promotion of a pro-choice agenda. Planned Parenthood is not just pro-choice; it’s pro-women. The sad fact of the entire matter is that there is a massive need for Planned Parenthood. Women rely on it for cancer screenings, birth control, sex-ed and more. One in five women use Planned Parenthood facilities. Chances are that either your mom, sister, girlfriend or roommate have utilized or will utilize the services that Planned Parenthood provides.

There is a Planned Parenthood on High Street, a 15 minute walk from campus. I can tell you firsthand that students on campus take advantage of its services for birth control, for screenings and for information. These students are not receiving federally-funded abortions; nobody who walks into a Planned Parenthood is. For the sake of Planned Parenthood, I do not care about your stance on abortion. If you stand with a person’s right to the necessary healthcare services that Planned Parenthood provides, and if you stand with women, then you should stand with Planned Parenthood. ♥