Derek Tremblay Help Received: Conference with Maj. Garriott
Major Garriott Peer Review: David White
ERH 102-11
11 February 2017
Why Planned Parenthood should be government funded
A hot topic of discussion nowadays is should the government fund Planned Parenthood. Most right-wing conservatives are quick to shout to the masses “I will defund Planned Parenthood”. Abortions are the main reason for conservatives to dislike Planned Parenthood, however, they forget to look at the entire range of services provided by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood’s services include birth control, health through pregnancy, sexual health, coping with their body image and other various general health care services. Planned Parenthood should be funded by the federal government because it provides many services that women need, and without government funding many women would not be able to afford otherwise.
Only a small amount of the services done by Planned Parenthood are abortions and roughly only about 10 percent of it’s clients receive an abortion (factcheck.org). According to the 2012-2013 annual report only 3 percent of their services are directly related to abortion. The majority of Planned Parenthood’s services are contraception, sexually transmitted disease testing and cancer screenings, all which are vital to and important to the health of women (plannedparenthood.org). Planned Parenthood offers a wide variety of necessary general health care. In addition to the sexual and reproductive health services Planned Parenthood offers cholesterol and diabetes screening, physical health exams, flu and tetanus vaccines, help with smoking, high blood pressure screenings, and many other health services (plannedparenthood.org). Government funding allows for them to continue to offer these important health care services to the general public and for them to be affordable.
Cancer screenings and other various services that women desperately need are a large part of what Planned Parenthood does. Cervical cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer screenings are critical services that are most conveniently offered to the public through Planned Parenthood (plannedparenthood.org). In 2012 Planned Parenthood performed 1,040,000 Pap tests and breast cancer exams. The results from Pap tests as well as breast cancer exams are used to prevent and treat cancer, which in turn, save lives (plannedparenthood.org). The annual report of 2012-2013 published by Planned Parenthood tells the story of Brandi who was only 27 when Planned Parenthood detected her breast cancer. Planned Parenthood provided critical, emotional, support to help Brandi through her treatment. They helped Brandi find the right specialist that she needed and they provided financial assistance to cover testing. After a year of cancer treatment and reconstruction she is happy and healthy and she and her family are “forever grateful to Planned Parenthood” (2012-2013 Planned Parenthood annual report). Planned Parenthood is critical to many women in the country and it save lives by detecting cancer for people at an affordable price.
The money that the government spent on Planned Parenthood in 2012-2013 was $540.6 million (2012-2013 Planned Parenthood annual report), this money is a good investment as it provided much needed financial aid for people who desperately needed the services of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is “dedicated to providing services that are affordable, accessible and available to all women, men and youth in the community, regardless of the individual’s income, race, marital status, religion, sexual orientation or residence” (plannedparenthood.org). Planned Parenthood uses the substantial government funding so that people who can’t afford it get the care they deserve. Families who are on Medicaid are reimbursed 90 percent from the government meaning that the majority of Planned Parenthood customers which are low-income can get the services they need without being left with a financial burden (npr.org). Planned Parenthood is a necessity for the government to fund because it is difficult for low-income people to get treatment without financial aid form the government. The defunding of Planned Parenthood would directly harm the low income women dependent on Medicaid reimbursements rather than Planned Parenthood (plannedparenthoodaction.org). It would be harmful if Planned Parenthood funding was ended, because it would financially hurt women who desperately need health care but might not be able to afford it.
Currently, under the law, the government is not allowed to fund abortions. It is however legal for them to fund a health care service provider. The government does currently fund Planned Parenthood and the health services that it provides, however, they do not directly fund abortions as the law requires. Defunding Planned Parenthood won’t have any effect on the abortions, it would only harm the people seeking the health care services. The way that the government currently funds Planned Parenthood is the best way to follow the law, help those in need, and regulate abortion rates.
The services of Planned Parenthood, like providing affordable birth control, IUD’s, and morning after pills, are in support of the goal of almost everyone, which is the preservation of human life. A typical misconception of Planned Parenthood is that they encourage and support the abortion of healthy fetuses. Before they offer any information about conducting an abortion, on the Planned Parenthood website, they suggest that women “may want to know more about parenting or adoption” (plannedparenthood.org). Planned Parenthood offers to help with the decision of abortion and exploring all of the options by discussing and helping women find the services needed, which could be an alternative to abortion (plannedparenthood.org) Planned Parenthood offers birth control and emergency contraceptives in order to prevent women from getting pregnant with a baby that they may not be able to afford. It ensures that women avoid the predicament of aborting or keeping a child due to the fact that they might not be able to provide an adequate life for the child. The lives of everyone is important to Planned Parenthood and, even though it is widely thought otherwise, their services offered are a large help to women and preserving the lives of unborn healthy children.
In the case of a miscarriage an abortion may be the most humane option and the best for the women’s health, and is often times a better alternative to delivering the stillborn baby naturally on term. Miscarriages are fetal deaths that occur within 20 weeks, anywhere from 10 – 25% of clinically recognized pregnancies will end in a miscarriage, Planned Parenthood helps with the safe management of the damaged fetus (americanpregnancy.org). This is both critical for women and an ethical practice that must continue, and would be facilitated by government funding. Two states have bans on dilation and evacuation (D&E) which is the most commonly used method of abortion in the second trimester, in addition nineteen states have a ban on “partial-birth” abortion, this covers healthy fetuses as well as stillborn fetuses that may be harmful toward the mother (guttmacher.org). Legislation regarding the allowance of dilation and evacuations in specific situations, such as miscarriages, needs to be passed so the health of women are no longer put at risk in this country. Planned Parenthood offers abortions that are crucial to the health of women and that are the most humane way for delivering a stillborn.
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