Planned Parenthood : A Program That Has Been Servicing Communities For Over 100 Years

In Texas (Texas being the first state in America to cancel Medicaid funding), Governor Abbot recently informed Planned Parenthood that the state is cutting off the organization from the state’s Medicaid program stated by Andy Sullivan in the article “Texas Tries To Stitch a Safety Net without Planned Parenthood”, as recently released undercover videos show evidence of violations. Another huge thing they have been under fire for is whether or not they are making a profit off of abortions, if they are making a profit off of abortions the government strongly

There are a lot of cultural beliefs and biases that impact the stance that people choose to take regarding defunding Planned Parenthood. The biggest, and most obvious, belief is religion – namely Christianity. As a Christian myself, I tend to feel perplexed when this issue is brought up, because I know what I believe and how I feel, but I feel as though it is not my place, or the government’s, to get involved in this decision. Most Christians believe that abortion is a huge sin, as you are taking the life of a human away. With that, most have the distorted belief that all Planned Parenthood does is abortions, when it is only three percent of what they do, and it is not funded in any way, shape, or form federally, per a law former President Obama put in place (Parenthood 2017).

In overview, Planned Parenthood is an underappreciated healthcare resource that has helped terminate/prevent unwanted pregnancy, contributed to vital medical research, and educated persons of all ages in matters including sexuality and safe practices/choices.

Congress is the only branch of government that can "make laws". (Lenz,2013) Though Congress is part of the law making process they are not the ones who actually "make the law" but oversees the law or passes it. With that being said the law is not a law when it begins it is first a sponsored Bill. The Bill that was sponsored by Senator Roger Wicker on the 17th of March, 2015 is the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 which was introduced to Senate.(Congress.gov, n.d.) This Bill states in Section 3 that it will prohibit federal funds for a one-year period for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any of its affiliates or clinics, unless they certify that the affiliates or clinics will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion during such period. The restriction will not apply to cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must seek repayment if federal assistance received by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any affiliate or clinic, if it violates the terms of the certification required by the Act. Section 4 reads Additional funding for community health centers is provided for the one-year period described above.(Congress.gov,2016) This is the first step of creating the law. The second step is it being assigned to a committee for consideration. The committee the Bill was assigned to the Senate- Committee on Commerce,

Planned Parenthood has been a topic of discussion for a while now. Do you know what Planned Parenthood does? Is defunding Planned Parenthood the right thing to do? These are some questions that people ask themselves. Most people only believe what they see and hear from the news and the papers. Is all Planned Parenthood about is abortions? The Government and the Trump administration want to defund the program, but why? Let’s get into it and find out.

“Women across the country were routinely dying in emergency rooms after being subject to abortions. I fear we are now coming full circle” (Morris). Here the point is raised that women who are refused abortions may go to extreme, illegal lengths to get them and endanger themselves. Shutting down planned Parenthood will not stop women will not stop women from getting abortions, it will just make them more dangerous (Morris). Planned Parenthood provides more than 4.2 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including more than 650,000 HIV tests (Parenthood). Keeping these clinics funded it will provide these services at a reasonable cost to all people. They also provide cancer screenings and other preventative health care that has proven to save lives.

The target population may be Planned Parenthood (PP) as an entity, but the policy will affect the clients that depend on PP for services. If House Bill 294 passes, it will end federal funding to Planned Parenthood (House Bill 294, 2015). Planned Parenthood provides services to Medicaid recipients and other individuals with little to no income. The services provided by PP include providing free or low-cost contraceptives, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment (Planned Parenthood, 2016). The population who loses if this policy is passed are the individuals living in poverty and medically underserved areas since they are over half of PP clients (Heisler, 2016). They are already disadvantaged by not having sufficient medical services in the area; Planned Parenthood is one of the key resources that are specifically planted in low-income areas to be accessible to this diverse population. With the easy access to contraceptives being lost, pregnancy will be on the rise along with STDs, since treatment will no longer be provided in a quick and easy manner. For an already impoverished and oppressed community these consequences could be dire.

Many want to ban Planned Parenthood because of its federal funding. Regardless, Planned Parenthood is not directly funded by the government. For instance, a client who has health insurance, such as Medicaid or Title X, comes into a Planned Parenthood health office and receives health care. Then, Planned Parenthood and its staff is paid through the insurance used. The insurance id reimbursed by the state's funds. Finally, the state gets its reimbursement by the Federal government. Medicaid and Title X do not get special uses, it is just like any other health care, it reimburse Planned Parenthood’s doctors and nurses for the medical services they provide. The government saves an average of seven dollars for every dollar spent in family planning programs(13). The federal government can choose to so-called ‘defund’ planned parenthood; even though, that does not mean the state has to stop funding it. Tax paying citizens do not like that the federal government funds it because it uses their tax dollars for the

Planned ParentHood offers services to the general public, low income persons, women, adolescents/youth/teens. There are many ways Planned Parenthood advertises their services so here are a few of them, billboards and television advertisements as well as an internet presents. Some states oppose Planned Parenthood because of the services it offers to individuals. Some clients may not be able to afford the services offered at Planned Parenthood. There are no barriers to services offered to individuals other than self-imposed ones. The facility is well maintained and clean both inside and out. Staff are professional, friendly and willing to help out with questions. Planned Parenthood offers Spanish, English as well as an interpreter service

　　Planned Parenthood is an American company that specializes in health care, more specifically, in contraception and reproductive health.[ Laura Basset, “Indiana Shut Down Its Rural Planned Parenthood Clinics And Got An HIV Outbreak” (March 31st, 2015) ] The health care services are offered to women and men who want to be educated on the information or are not financially able to afford going to hospitals to get care. The fact that Planned Parenthood is so accessible to those who are poor is already giving so much to the public that without government funding, would be nonexistent to those living in poverty. To quote Emily Cadei, “cutting funding to Planned Parenthood is limiting

In July of 2015 an undercover video was released to the public claiming Planned Parenthood engages in the selling of fetal tissues. These highly doctored videos released as apart of a series by a group called The Center for Medical Progress in attempt to uncover this “malpractice” within Planned Parenthood clinics. The selling fetal tissue for profit is an illegal activity in the United States therefore the topic alone became of interest to the public. Due to the graphic nature of these videos telling this horrific story, it gained much attention from the public and the media, leading Planned Parenthood to come under a great deal of fire. It became such an issue that a bill went to congress arguing for Planned Parenthood to be defunded by the government. The misinformation spread by this group, and others alike, is dangerous for the otherwise unknowing public and could have led to a very negative outcome that would affect the public more than it is aware.

Planned Parenthood encourages people to take free medical care without having to worry and control whether or not they want to have a baby or not. Most believe that if you get pregnant you can decide to have an abortion or keep it. An average of 21% ended in abortions out of all pregnancies america. 4 out of 10 unintended pregnancies have led to abortion. And instead of those who receive the medical care to pay for it, they have the taxpayers pay for the medicaid. The taxpayers go to the companies that give money to the organization and the money goes to them. It is not fair to the people who oppose or don’t need Planned Parenthood because those who can not afford to pay, just take the take the taxpayers money. And the users could just keep going to Planned Parenthood and not have to pay, while the rest suffer from higher taxes and trying to pay their own bills. Also, Planned Parenthood is also breaking the 14th amendment by not giving rights to an unborn citizen and just killing the child. Planned Parenthood already takes in so much money to keep the organization to run so it’s better if the organization to be defunded. The women should do it the right way and use their rights for better such as get a job make money to pay for the child and the education. Therefore, Planned Parenthood is not the organization willing to donate or pay for nor should it be

On Wednesday, September 9th, House Republicans held the first hearing in an effort to defund Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides reproductive health services to men and women in the U.S.. Planned Parenthood receives about $500 million a year from the government (which is a third of their total income, which also derives from donations and investments) and conservatives are looking to eradicate all funding to this organization. In July 2015, segments of a video showing PP officials discussing to research groups about how much they were asking as payment for giving them tissue from late-term abortions and techniques on how to do them were released. The Center for Medical Progress is the group that produced

Despite the common misconception, Planned Parenthood provides a variety of health services for both men and women. Cancer screenings, vaccines, sexually transmitted disease (STD) tests and treatments, physical exams and birth control are just a few of the provided services. The Planned Parenthood organization is covered under the Affordable Healthcare Act, which expands its clientele to citizens in every economic class. Majority of the patients visiting the clinics are there for lack of options. Chenoa, a person whom acquired personal benefits, explains how Planned Parenthood influenced her life:

Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization that does scientific research into and offers advice on contraception, family planning, and reproductive problems. The organization is also known for offering legal abortion options. (Planned Parenthood at a Glance, 2014.) Recently, a video was released of Planned Parenthood showing the employees talking about selling the fetal tissue from the abortions. The organization is funded by taxpayers dollars, which caused many people to be not happy about the video. The situation caused Congress to question if Planned Parenthood should continue to be funded by the government. (Earll, C. 2015). Defunding this organization would cause many problems for men and women. There are people in our society who cannot afford the correct healthcare they need. The government funding of Planned Parenthood helps low-income families.