Planned Parenthood Research Paper

Planned Parenthood is an organization that has been around since at least 1921. Recently, it has been in the limelight due to the on-going Presidential debates leading up to the 2016 election. It appears that the Republicans want to take away all federal funding to shut down the clinics where as the democrats believe that the republicans are misguided in their claims.

Planned Parenthood is a controversial topic sweeping the nation of America with political and moral issues. Every day one could come across a new article on it, stubble upon a news article in their local paper or even on their local news station. Planned Parenthood directly provides reproductive health services, is involved in teach young students about sexual education, contributes to research in reproductive technology, and interacts with legal and political efforts aimed at protecting and developing reproductive rights.

Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides healthcare and education to both men and women, having over 650 health centers that provide healthcare to countless communities around the world. Shockingly, 78% of those who use Planned Parenthoods services live at or below 150% of the federal poverty line, showing how important this organization is to low-income families (Topulos, Greene, Drazen). Their mission statement is “A Reason for Being”, which is shown through their efforts to provide health care, advocate public policies, create educational programs, and endorse research. There are those who do not believe Planned Parenthood should be funded by the government, though, due to the fact that they provide abortions to women in need. Studies show that the effects of not having Planned Parenthood available are disastrous, causing low-income families to lack a healthcare provider and the number of those who are infected with STD’s and STI’s to rise. The biggest concern communities have about the government defunding Planned Parenthood is the effects that it would have on low-income families who would no longer have access to something that many people take for granted: health care. Although many believe that Planned Parenthood mostly provides abortions, in reality, only 3% of the people that seek help from them receive an abortion, while 97% receive affordable and, in many cases,

One of the main reasons for the support of defunding is the fact that the clinics perform abortions. Abortion is legal according to the Supreme Court as of 1973 and should not used a reason to support the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood was founded in New York City in 1916 as the first birth control center offered to women. The clinics did not start offering abortions until the 1970s when the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that “the constitutional right to privacy also applies to a woman’s decision, in consultation with her doctor, to have an abortion” (Planned Parenthood). Also according to Planned parenthood, the court recognized in Roe v. Wade, not only a woman’s constitutional right to choose, but that the state may prohibit an abortion after a certain point in the pregnancy, except when the mother’s life is in danger. Many states do have laws in place that prohibit abortion after a certain number a weeks, which varies from state-to-state. Using abortion as an excuse for defunding of Planned Parenthood is irrelevant because it is legal according to the Supreme Court of the United

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).

“Nothing matters.” That quote attributed to Ambrose Bierce may be true in some cases. It may be true to those who do not value the funding of Planned Parenthood. But something does matter. And that is the funding of the healthcare resource Planned Parenthood. Many do not understand the vital role Planned Parenthood plays in the lives of up and coming parents. Planned Parenthood has been operating and serving those in need of care in the United States and overseas for more than 40 years (“Planned Parenthood Global”). Planned Parenthood has vowed in their mission statement:

Planned parenthood has been a topic of controversy the last couple of years, as people throughout the nation ask whether or not the healthcare organization should be defunded. When video footage was released in 2015 of “Planned Parenthood medical officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue to researchers,” it seemed likely that federal funds would be revoked as backlash from the public was noted (Welch). Although the nonprofit organization does offer the termination of unplanned pregnancies, the organization offers many more services to women and men, such as free birth control and yearly health checkups “backed by medical experts and more than 100 years of research in reproductive health” (Planned Parenthood). As many people struggle financially to provide for their families, Planned Parenthood’s services are a relief to those who otherwise would not be able to afford healthcare, which is why the organization should not be defunded.

Since many believe that Planned Parenthood only performs abortions, a frenzy against it has been created. “We don’t want to commit taxpayer funding for abortions, and Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider” (Strickland quoting Paul Ryan, 2017). Republicans rather see federal funding go towards federal community centers. However, to clarify this misconception we need to look at what federal funding is going towards. Planned Parenthood receives its funding from Medicaid reimbursements (Berg, 2017). They do not keep any hidden money, or have money put aside to preform free abortions. As the federal money that comes in goes straight towards helping patients.

Over the last one hundred years the program known as planned parenthood has selflessly devoting millions of dollars and countless hours. To providing health care that is not only safe but also affordable. (Lawrence and Ness) The comprehensive health care that planned parenthood provides is, in my opinion extremely beneficial to every single man and woman that has ever happened to be a patient of planned parenthood. Planned parenthood provides an extraordinary amount of benefits that have helped millions of people all around the world. Benefits such as free testing for sexually transmitted. Access to the full range of reproductive and preventive health services for woman and men both. Examinations, vaccinations, and abortion as well as many more. According to the author of Defunding Planned Parenthood Defined “Extreme politicians, led by Vice President Mike Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, want to shut down Planned Parenthood”. If so many benefits are being provided by planned parenthood why is government funding for the program being taken away? Excluding their personal feelings towards abortion. I personally cannot think of any logical conclusion that would lead vice president Mike Pence and human services secretary Tom Price to think shutting down planned parenthood is a good idea by any stretch of the imagination. The services provided by planned parenthood are much too valuable to simply disappear for millions of people. If these services where to

The eliminating of funds to clinics will cause many to go without preventative care such as contraception. If people no longer have access to birth control, the population rate will continue to rise. When the government takes away funding, and therefore, birth control, unplanned births will happen and with that additional fees that the government will have to cough up. Sure, you save money up front when defunding Planned Parenthood but in the long run you are causing a bigger problem. As Groff states, “Family planning is a regular part of women’s health, every $1 spent on family planning saves $4. It is fiscally responsible” (1). With unwanted pregnancies, come unwanted children or children for whom we are not prepared for which go into foster care as well as

There have been many attempts on their part to pass anti-abortion legislation through and the most recent effort to defund Planned Parenthood is a response to false allegations surrounding fetal tissue donation. While Planned Parenthood does offer abortion services, the facility provides a wide array of other health services to demographics that are limited in their choice of health care provider. The issue is not that Planned Parenthood should not receive funding from the government; the issue is that republicans want to push their anti-abortion agenda. America has continually emphasized their believe in the separation of church and state. Those that support pulling funding have been using inaccurate information regarding the fetal donations to start a fire behind prolife

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,

Five years ago, we learned in Texas what can happen when efforts to defund Planned Parenthood are carried out. The network of health-care providers falls apart and women lose access to essential preventive services. Planned Parenthood is not something that, at first, was affecting Texas government. When Texas decided to focus on the fact that they preform abortions, basically, just ignoring the fact the government started by providing reproductive health care and still do. That’s when Planned Parenthood was forced to fight back, which started to affect Texas government because of their involvement. Years ago, Texas voluntarily gave up $30 million a year in federal funding for women’s health programs, just so it could exclude Planned Parenthood from the roster of approved

There is an ongoing argument about the funding of Planned Parenthood in the United States. There are many reasons that some people do not want to fund it. One of those reasons is because Planned Parenthood offers abortions to women. There are people who believe that these operations should be shut down to rid our country of abortions. However, Planned Parenthood offers much more than just abortions in their clinics. Planned Parenthood should be funded because of the examinations and resources they provide, the education they give, and because it is a low income health center.

Currently, a group of Republicans are attempting to stop the government from funding the organization; but if the Republican’s bill to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood passes, millions of people will lose access to affordable health care, and many other medical services offered to the public by Planned