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Planned Parenthood Funding

            There is a controversy in this country over the ethics and morality of abortion. In the last year there has been a renewed call to defund Planned Parenthood because of this controversy. Despite this controversy there are still many people who support Planned Parenthood. These people recognize that there are several reasons why Planned Parenthood should not be de-funded. I believe Planned Parenthood should not be defunded because there are negative repercussions for public health, the allegations that they sell fetal tissue for profit are false, and they provide essential health services to women everywhere.

Warrant #1

            Planned Parenthood shouldn’t be defunded because the allegation that Planned Parenthood sells fetal tissue for profit is false. The video campaign by the Center for Medical Progress against Planned Parenthood attempted to provide proof that the organization was selling fetal tissue for profit. However, not only was the footage used in these videos obtained by unethical and possibly illegal methods, but the videos themselves are heavily edited and misleading (McDonald-Mosley 1). Planned Parenthood has been investigated by several congressional committees and cooperated in this investigation by providing tens of thousands of pages of documents and hours of testimony there has been absolutely no evidence found to support the allegations that Planned Parenthood sells fetal tissue for profit (McDonald-Mosley 1). The truth is there is no evidence to support the allegations against Planned Parenthood and therefore the organization should not be defunded.

Warrant # 2

            The essential reproductive health services Planned Parenthood provides are not always readily accessible which is why Planned Parenthood is necessary and shouldn’t be defunded. One fifth of counties that have a Planned Parenthood clinic do not have any other clinics that offer family planning services (Muchmore 2). This shows that Planned Parenthood serves a lot of clients and there are areas where there aren’t any alternatives. An example of an incident where there were no alternatives for Planned Parenthood was when in Scott County, Indiana there was a sudden demand for HIV test after 180 people were found to have HIV. However, the only testing center in the area had been closed in 2013 due to a campaign against Planned Parenthood. This of course meant there was not a way to get tested for HIV in the county (Florez 1). Despite the fact that Planned Parenthood’s reproductive health services are not accessible enough, some people believe that Planned Parenthood clinics are unnecessary. The fact is even though Planned Parenthood clinics are only 10% of all family planning clinics, they serve 40% of clients seeking those services (Muchmore 2). This proves that even though there aren’t very many clinics in total, only 700 nationwide, they serve a vast amount of people who require reproductive health services.

Warrant # 3

            The funding of Planned Parenthood allows the organization to provide many essential services to low income and uninsured women which is yet another reason why they shouldn’t be defunded. These services include STD testing, providing contraception, and cancer screenings. In fact, seventy-five percent of Planned Parenthood’s services are STD testing/ treatment and contraceptives. Planned Parenthood has programs to provide contraceptives for free or at almost no cost to the patient (“Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky”). This is a very important thing to consider because in 2009 twenty percent of women eighteen to sixty-four years old were uninsured (Florez 2). These uninsured women have nowhere else to go to get reproductive health services at an affordable price simply because there are no other clinics that will provide these services. In fact, one fifth of all counties that had a Planned Parenthood clinic did not have any other clinics that provided the same services. Even in the counties where there were other clinics that provided contraceptives, these clinics did not see nearly as many clients as Planned Parenthood (Muchmore 2). This proves that Planned Parenthood provides essential services to low-income and uninsured women and should not be defunded.

Rebuttals

            The main argument of opponents of Planned Parenthood is that Planned Parenthood provides abortion services but there are several reasons why that should not cause Planned Parenthood to be defunded. The first reason is that abortion services should not cause Planned Parenthood to lose its funding is because they are only three percent of all the services that Planned Parenthood provides (“Planned Parenthood- Services”). Not only that but there are some Planned Parenthood clinics that do not provide abortion services, but were still defunded. An example of this is the clinic in Scott County, Indiana that was closed down in 2013 during one of the first campaigns against Planned Parenthood did not provide abortions. If the fact that Planned Parenthood provides abortion services is the only argument a person has against the organization then they should be able to accept keeping the clinics that do not provide abortions open simply because of the other services they offer such as STD testing, cancer screenings, and access to contraceptives. If someone against Planned Parenthood is concerned about the federal funding because they don’t want their tax money going towards abortion, then they don’t need to worry. Planned Parenthood does not use any of its federal funding for abortion services (Florez 1). Planned Parenthood should not be defunded simply because it provides abortion services since not all clinics provide abortion services in the first place and even if they do they provide many other beneficial reproductive health services that should not be defunded.

Conclusion

            Overall, the defunding of Planned Parenthood needs to be fought against for several reasons including the negative repercussions for public health. The allegations against the organization that they sell fetal tissue are false, and they provide so many essential services to uninsured and low-income women. These are the reasons why Planned Parenthood should keep its federal funding. This funding allows the organization to continue providing reproductive health services while the costs to provide these services are rising. If they do not have this funding, then more clinics will have to close simply because they cannot afford to continue providing these services. This will have a large impact on the accessibility of contraceptives and STD testing both for women and men. We need to end the campaign against Planned Parenthood before it impacts reproductive health care for women and men of this country.

Works Cited

Florez, Sandy. "De-funding Planned Parenthood Will Affect Women across U.S." News
            Reporting and the Internet. School of Communication University of Miami. Web. 19 Mar.
            2016.

Mcdonald-Mosley, Raegan. "Tearing Down the Fetal Tissue Smokescreen." New England
            Journal of Medicine N Engl J Med 373.24 (2015). Proquest. Web. 14 Mar.
            2016.

Muchmore, Shannon. "Cuts To Planned Parenthood Have Troubling Impact On States." Modern 

Healthcare 45.37 (2015) CINAHL with Full Text. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

"Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky." Planned Parenthood Official Site. Planned

Parenthood Federation of America Inc. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.

“Planned Parenthood - Services.” Planned Parenthood Official Site. Planned Parenthood

Federation of America Inc. Jan. 2014. PDF file. 05 Apr. 2016.