One political issue that remains current in the United States is the decision to fund Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care throughout the world. Majority of funding towards Planned Parenthood comes from Medicaid which supports and gives money to reproductive health for low-income women. Some of many services provided at Planned Parenthood include screening for STD’s and covering contraception such as women's birth control. The controversial idea of Planned Parenthood and coverage of these organizations has been around for millenniums. Now with Donald Trump as the president, the issue gets brought up again due to his fight to repeal the Obama Care coverage towards such organizations. When looking at the issue of funding towards Planned Parenthood democracy plays a huge role. Democracy creates rule by the people allowing citizens to be a part of making decisions. In the United States, representative democracy allows us to elect representatives who make policies on funding for organizations such as Planned Parenthood. When looking at democracy there are three important concepts that play an important role which include popular sovereignty, civil liberties, and civil rights. Popular sovereignty states that people are the ultimate source of government authority and the policies government make. Popular sovereignty allows the peoples wishes to be reflected and creates elections that are fair and free.
In January 2016, Congress passed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, a family planning group that runs more than 800 reproductive health clinics across the United States. They wanted to cut Planned Parenthood because they perform abortions. Most people don’t know they only do them for certain situations. If you were raped and the pregnancy is still early they will perform it. If the pregnancy was included in incest they might terminate it due to problems that would be cause in the baby due to alike DNA. In other cases if the pregnancy was harming the mother they might also do it then. That's not all what planned parenthood does though. They also have operations that include prevention pregnancy by distributing birth control and free condoms. They also educate the public about contraception, they reduce the spread of STD’s through education, testing, and treatment. They also screen for cervical and other cancers. Planned Parenthood offers so much but cutting tax funds they wouldn’t be able to offer a lot of those things. More than 5 million men and women world 5 million men and women worldwide use their services
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).
Given the misinformation depicted in the media it is difficult to discern what Planned Parenthood does and exactly how it is that they allocate their funds. Though opponents of Planned Parenthood would have us believe abortions and contraception is what they do, health screenings and prevention is a more accurate description. More so given the array of services they offered and the fact that those they serve are mainly from the uninsured and underrepresented minority population. Though steeped in controversy, Planned Parenthood services are of great benefit to society, more so given their efforts in preventive care. Because
According to Bryce Covert and Mike Konczal’s article, “Born, Not Free,” the government funds constitute about $500 million of the $1.1 billion total Planned Parenthood receives in funding. However, the money coming from the government cannot legally be used towards the administration of abortion, which is the main topic of controversy. Politicians who are in favor of defunding argue that by giving money to the facility whose services are in part constituted by abortion, those funds are essentially being given in support of abortions. On the contrary, though Planned Parenthood has come to be known as a symbol for abortion, abortion constitutes only 3% of the services provided. According to Nancy Gibbs, a managing editor for TIME magazine, the other 97% is made up of “family planning, immunizations and screening for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases” (Gibbs). Due to the funding from the government, Planned Parenthood is able to provide the aforementioned inexpensive yet crucial services to women. $500 million dollars is a small price to pay to ensure the health and wellbeing of half of the population of the United States of America. Also, even though abortion is only a small part Planned Parenthood, a woman is able to have the procedure done safely and without further damage to her physical welfare. To conclude, Planned Parenthood is able to vastly improve women’s overall health through its facilities, like cancer screenings and family planning. However,
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
A California bill that would expand punishments for those who secretly record and disseminate conversations with health are providers has been approved by vote by both the state's Assembly and Senate, and awaits the governor's signature.
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 one of the largest abortion providers in the nation. Trumps say he respects woman and wants to take care of them. His remarks about Planned Parenthood are against I and do not support ending taxpayers funding have Planned Parenthood. “ I am against abortion … and that is a tremendous amount of the work they do said Trump. (Huff Post) Trump believes there is good aspects to this and that it can be considered in only certain situations. “We have to help woman” said trump (Fox News) During the interview in fox new he mentioned how he wants to help woman and try to look also at the positives of Planned Parenthood. This displays that trump might have reconsidered not funding panned parents hood. In another interview with
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,
In a recent article, “Nailed it: Paul Ryan’s perfect answer to why Planned Parenthood should be defunded”, Claire Chretien explains House Speaker Representative Paul Ryan’s view on the defunding of Planned Parenthood. He starts off by stating that he wants to ensure women get the care they need. He says, “we believe that this can better be done by putting that money in federal community health centers” (Chretien). Putting the money into local community centers, congress can ensure that women get all of the health services they need. “Planned Parenthood receives approximately $500 million in public funding, with federal funding consisting of Medicaid reimbursements and grants from the Title X Family Planning Program” (“Planned Parenthood Controversy”). By redirecting the funds into local health centers, people are supporting their community, the cost of care becomes more affordable with the extra funds, and women have access to more than just abortion health
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.
Numerous Americans, including some who are pro-choice regarding abortion, do not want their tax money used through Planned Parenthood for abortion. Staunchly religious people against abortion, claiming that it insults God to “kill unborn children,” are also against Planned Parenthood for giving out the service of abortion (DailySignal). Moreover, the selling of fetal parts by PP has become a big issue that is increasing the support for defunding PP.
Although it provides many reproductive healthcare services, abortion has always been the center of most public debates and opposition. Planned Parenthood receives greater attention since more than half of its funding comes from federal subsidies. Republicans and Democrats have vehemently disagreed on the subject and often accused the other side of misrepresenting facts and undermining the greater public good for petty political interests.
Millions of women across America will struggle to receive the medical attention they need if the federal government stops funding to Planned Parenthood. Every year 363 million dollars goes into the funding “pot” collectively at Planned Parenthood’s nationwide (Clark 5). This money is used predominantly by women; for six in ten women, Planned Parenthood acts as their main source of health care (Clark 4). Many individuals with low incomes depend on these clinics to maintain or help better their health. Recently, the federal government is trying to pass the Pence Amendment, which would eliminate funding to these institutions. The federal government needs to realize how important Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood has always been a controversial topic because of the many services they perform for their patients. The most controversial topic is abortion, but Planned Parenthood additionally provides substantial health care, birth control, STD prevention and treatment, etc. for patients who do not have access to or cannot afford actual health care. Due to the amount of people who receive treatment in Planned Parenthood, it should not be defunded so that the people who use it as their only option are not left without health care and the economy can benefit from the money they raise from Planned Parenthood’s services. Defunding Planned Parenthood can also lead to issues revolving around the rural areas where they are centered, as well as the economy as a whole.