Allison Kile

Mr. Hawkins
American Government, Period 5
3 November 2015
Should Planned Parenthood be defunded?
Planned Parenthood: Care. No matter what. Thats the organization's slogan, but
is it true? Many do not want their tax dollars going towards an organization that is
known for providing abortions. The real question is what is Planned Parenthood? Before
anyone can decide whether they support Planned Parenthood or not, they should
understand what the organization is and the services they provide. Planned Parenthood
is a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health as well as maternal and
child health services and has been government funded since 1970. Planned
Parenthood is also known for providing important resources to teenagers such as birth
control, HIV screenings, and many treatments for any sexually transmitted diseases.
Planned parenthood's Mission is to to provide comprehensive reproductive and
complementary health care services, to advocate public policies which guarantee these
rights and ensure access to such services to provide educational programs which
enhance understanding of individual and societal implications of human sexuality to
promote research and the advancement of technology in reproductive health. This
sounds good, right? To many, it is, but there are also numerous reason that a majority of
the public dont want their tax dollars going towards funding this organization. Although
there are many reasons as to why the public sees Planned Parenthood as something
negative, they is also a vast majority of the public who supports Planned Parenthood

and all the things they do to help people, those people mostly young women and
teenagers.
What exactly Does Planned Parenthood Do?
Planned Parenthoods main focus is prevention, and over 80 percent of their
services are done to help prevent unwanted pregnancy. They do this by providing birth
control, the morning-after pill, abortions, and many other services to prevent, or end
unwanted pregnancies. What so many are unaware of is that this organizations also
provides over 500,000 breast exams to check for cancer, and 400,000 pap exams
(Planned Parenthood Website). One of Planned Parenthood's biggest provided services
is their treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, including scanning for HIV and
treatments for it (Planned Parenthood Website). Overall, Planned Parenthood helps
over 1.5 million young teenagers and adults each year, and many without this
organization it would threaten millions of people's access to preventive health care (The
Washington Post).
Why do people want planned Parenthood Defunded?
One of the biggest reasons that many want to defund Planned Parenthood is
because it is Americas largest abortion provider. One in every four abortions takes
place in Planned Parenthood, which is an issue that many disagree with (My Heritage).
Americans should decide where their tax dollars go to and how they are spend, and
they simply do not want it going towards the killing of innocent babies. Now, people
have different opinions on abortion and whether it is right or wrong is a controversial
issue in todays society, which is why people should not be forced to support the cause

they simply do not agree with. Many believe that an organization that provides underage
girls with abortions and the morning after pills are not protecting underage girls and
women. It is said that Planned Parenthood opposes common sense measures to
protect women and underage girls.
Another reason so many have an issue with their tax dollars going towards
supporting Planned Parenthood is because they believe that more taxpayer funding of
Planned Parenthood equals more abortions,and fewer adoption referrals. There are
many claims that taxpayer funding of this organization have led to fewer abortions, but
this claim is false. In 2000, Planned Parenthood performed 197,070 abortions while
making only 2,486 adoption referral, while nine years late, when they taxpayer funding
was raised they performed 332,278 abortions and made just 977 adoption referrals
(Susan B Anthony List). That is a sixty nine percent increase in the number of abortions
that were given by Planned Parenthood and a sixty one percent decrease in adoptions
referrals when the taxpayer funding was increased by eighty percent. This result is
shocking and makes it evident that taxpayer money has a major affect on the number of
abortions given. It was stated that for every $1,612 the federal government gives to
planned parenthood they can perform another abortion, and this is very disturbing to
many who are spending their tax dollars on this (Susan B Anthony List). People are
being forced to support a cause they do not want to support. This is not an issue for
those who are pro-abortion, but for those who do not support it, they do not think it is
right that abortions are being performed with their tax dollars.
Another reason that many believe Planned Parenthood should be defunded is
because they believe that it is not only unsafe for women and young girls but also

opposes common sense measures. One of the greatest reasons that so many question
the safety of Planned Parenthood is because of recently leaked footage that Lila Roses
Live Action shows Planned Parenthood employees in several states willing to aid and
abet in acknowledged human sex trafficking of girls as young as 14 (Susan B Anthony
List). This led to the firing of many employees and a mandatory training session to all
those employed in Planned Parenthood. Whether these accusations are true or not is
unknown, but it still raises concerns about the safety of Planned Parenthood, an
organization whose mission is to care for young girls who need help.
Why Should Planned Parenthood Remain Government Funded?
One of the main reasons that Planned Parenthood is respected by so many is
because it is one of the nation's largest health care providers and also the largest sex
education provider (Odyssey). Many of the supporters of Planned Parenthood believe
that if they were not being government funded then it would result in the loss of health
care for over 650,000 women and young girls (La Times). A Reason for Being is
Planned Parenthoods mission statement, and they believe in the fundamental right of
individuals to manage their own fertility, without having to worry about their race,
income, marital status, or sexual orientation. Many do not want people to lose this
resource in their community and not have the health care that is needed.
One of the main reasons that so much hate and criticism is given towards
Planned Parenthood is because they provide abortions, which is a very controversial
topic that many disagree with. Those who support the fight to keep this organization
government funded believe that people will get abortions whether they are provided by

Planned Parenthood or not. It is simply impossible to stop every woman who is

unprepared to have a child to not get an abortion, whether you agree with abortion or
not, and that is why Planned Parenthood believes it is safer for the women and young
adults to go to their facilities to get the procedure. Thousands of women die every year
from unsafe abortion procedures, and if Planned PArenthood was defunded and could
no longer provide these procedures, done safely, then it could result in an increase of
these deaths (The Odyssey). If Planned Parenthood was defunded it would make
getting abortions much more difficult, which would lead to the increase in unsafe
abortions, and the negative results of this could be extremely fatal.
Planned Parenthood provides services to over three million women each year,
which include cancer screenings, treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, and
contraceptions , only 329,000 of these services include abortions (The Odyssey). Only
three percent of the service provided at Planned Parenthood are abortions, and none of
these abortions are provided using government funds. The other 97 percent of services
that are offered at Planned Parenthood are necessary and vital to the health and well
being of many who can not afford other health care facilities (Washington Post).
Another reason that so many are fighting to keep Planned Parenthood
government funded is because they do not believe politicians should be able to dictate
what a women decides to do or what procedures she makes the choice to have. They
believe it is the woman's body, and she should have the right to do with it as they
please, which is why procedures like abortions should not be seen as an issue
(Washington Post). They find it unfair that men can walk into any drugstore and get the
contraceptives they need, but women need to go to great lengths to get theirs. WIthout

Planned Parenthood women would have little to no opportunity to get simple things like
the morning after or even birth control, and this is why women fear the chance of it
getting defunded.
When asked what the organization Planned Parenthood represents, i was told
that abortion is the first word that came to mind (My mother). This is what many believe
about this organization, but so many are uninformed about all the services Planned
Parenthood really provides. Planned Parenthood provides cancer screenings for cancer
patients who have families who cannot afford the expenses that cancer requires.
Planned Parenthood provides help for rape victims who are left pregnant, or with
sexually transmitted diseases. Planned Parenthood provides morning after pills for a
couples whose condom breaks unexpected, and cannot provide the money a baby
requires. While Planned Parenthood does in fact provide abortions, that is not what the
organization is all about, and they help so many who could not afford procedures that
are necessary for their health and well-being.
What are the Consequences if it is Defunded?
One of the biggest consequences that defunded Planned Parenthood would take effect
upon the patients, mostly lower income patients. Many lower income families and young
adults can not afford things like birth control, cancer screenings, and condoms. These
things like small things, but all together these prevent thousands of pregnancies, and
there would be a great deal of negative affects that would result if the government
stopped funding the organizations. (Pacific Standard)

Although many know Planned Parenthood for providing abortions, they also
prevent numerous amounts of abortions every year by discussing the procedure and
providing the after pill, condoms, and birth control to prevent pregnancy altogether. As
stated before, there is a vast amount of abortions done very unsafely, which leads to
thousands of deaths, and this could be yet another effect that the defunding of Planned
Parenthood could lead to. Without Planned Parenthood many would not have the health
care that they need, and this would lead to babies being born into poverty, a large
amount of people with very treatable diseases dying, and the increase in the killing of
innocent babies. Whether someone agrees with abortion or not, many would agree that
they would like to see the number of abortions decrease, and Planned Parenthood is
responsible for the decrease in abortion.
What would the consequences be if we remained funding Planned Parenthood?
One of the biggest concerns regarding funding Planned Parenthood is the fact
that it is supporting abortion, and while the claims that no abortion is performed using
government money is true, many find this to be twisted. The response from the public
on this claim is that he government funding that American taxpayers have provided to
Planned Parenthood for other services has freed up other resources that allowed the
organization to become the nations largest abortion provider. (The Daily Signal). This
would be the most prominent consequence if government remained funding Planned
Parenthood, because so many are against abortion and the fact that their tax dollars are
going towards abortions. Slowly, people are trying to make a change on this, and if this
organization remains the way it is, the public will progressively get worse. They are
doing all they can to stop government funding of Planned Parenthood.

What is Being Done to Defund Planned Parenthood?

The Republican-controlled House just recently passed the Defund Planned
Parenthood Act, 248-177. This act is not out to simple defund the organization, but
states that they will not be providing any of their normal services such as contraception,
pap smears, and testing for sexually-transmitted infections, unless they finally stop
providing abortions to their clients. Many republicans have stated that they will not
agree to the bill unless it refuses to fund this organization, while President BArack
Obama has made a vow to veto the bill. This is said to be a set up for a possible
government shutdown (MSNBC). Many Republicans are trying to get the funds
redirected to community health centers, which could also provide many of the health
benefits Planned Parenthood provided. It has been stated that The bill has not yet been
introduced in the Senate, and its supporters have expressed frustration that Republican
leaders seem unwilling to shut down the government over the roughly $500 million in
funding. (MSNBC)

Bibliography:
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Standard. 2015 The Miller-McCune Center for Research,, 16 Aug. 2015. Web. 3 Dec. 2015

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2015. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
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Carmon, Irin. "House Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood, Shutdown Looms."

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