Running head: WHY PLANNED PARENTHOOD SHOULD BE VALUED AND 1

RECEIVE GOVERNMENTAL FUNDING

Why Planned Parenthood Should be Valued and Receive Governmental Funding

Jane Doe

American Military University

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Why Planned Parenthood Should be Valued and Receive Governmental Funding

Planned Parenthood is a valuable resource for men and women across the United States.

Its goal is to help people and make sure they have the appropriate services that they need. Many

Americans benefit from the services of Planned Parenthood. However, people still argue about

whether the organization is immoral and worth government funding. Despite much opposition,

personal testimonies and statistics attest to the great things Planned Parenthood facilitates and

demonstrate why it should continue to receive government funding.

From the beginning, Planned Parenthood has been an organization with a righteous goal.

It has always had the mission to give care and information to people across the country.

According to the Planned Parenthood website (2018), the organization was founded in New York

by a nurse named Margret Sanger on the idea that “women should have the information and care

they need to live strong, healthy lives and fulfill their dreams.” The website mentions that her

mother’s health was poor as a result of seven miscarriages, along with eleven other pregnancies.

Her mother eventually died at age 50 from tuberculosis. It is suggested that Sanger’s mother was

the force that inspired her to travel Europe to study different birth control methods. At the time,

educating others about birth control was illegal in the United States. The Planned Parenthood

webpage describes Sanger returning to New York, and opening the first birth control clinic in

1916, which resulted in backlash and prison time. The organization is said to have gained

popularity when she traveled the country to spread the information about birth control. While the

organization began by providing birth control, it eventually began providing many more services

that are vital to the lives of millions of Americans.

Planned Parenthood began as a single birth control clinic in New York. Today it is a

widespread organization that provides vital reproductive health care across the country. Hal C
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Lawrence (2017, p. 443) states that “Across 50 states, 491 counties, and 650 clinics, Planned

Parenthood provides comprehensive, quality health care to 2.5 million women and men in the

United States each year.” It provides patients with online and in-person health support. The

Planned Parenthood website (2018) mentions general health care, sexually transmitted disease

testing and treatment, emergency contraception, birth control, abortion services, and hormone

therapy as some of the numerous services one can receive at a Planned Parenthood clinic. The

Planned Parenthood website has a feature that allows patients to speak with a health care

provider without actually going in for a visit. Its website contains an abundance of helpful

information about its services for patients. There is also educational information on sexual

orientation and gender, as well as sex and relationships. There is specific information for teens,

parents, and educators. All of this is help and information that would be far more difficult for

people to acquire if Planned Parenthood ceased to exist.

If Planned Parenthood were to be defunded, 2.5 million people would lose access to that

healthcare. People may argue that if the organization were to be defunded, other health care

providers would take care of Planned Parenthood’s patients. In reality, a majority of states

already have difficulty insuring an adequate number of providers for ” (Hasstedt 2017, p .13).

The I Stand with Planned Parenthood website contends that “there simply aren’t enough

reproductive health care providers out there to pick up the slack for the care Planned Parenthood

centers provide.” Hasstedt (2017, p .13) points out that Planned Parenthood clinics are more

likely to provide same-day intra-uterine device implant insertion, birth control pills dispensed on

site, and a full range of methods than other health care facilities, at a faster rate.

The many patients that have visited Planned Parenthood can attest to how helpful the

organization really is. The I Stand with Planned Parenthood Website includes a number of
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personal testimonies (2018). One story is about a woman named Shannon who describes how she

had been experiencing unusual menstrual pain since she was a teenager. She believed that she

had endometriosis, which is a disease that causes chronic pain and sometimes infertility.

Shannon mentions that she went to doctors about her concern, but they wouldn’t take her

seriously. When she was 18, she says she went to a Planned Parenthood clinic where the provider

confirmed that she had endometriosis. She was able to have her lesions removed, received Depo-

Provera to manage her condition, and is now the mother of a little girl.

The I Stand with Planned Parenthood website (2018) also includes the story about a man

named Marquis. Marquis talks about becoming sexually active at a young age. He says that no

one had ever educated him about the importance of safe sex. At age 16 he went into a Planned

Parenthood clinic with a friend. After noticing that he could get free STD testing, he got tested.

He found out that he was HIV positive. His case worker at Planned Parenthood was very

supportive and gave him important information regarding his diagnosis. Now Marquis goes to

high schools to tell his story and educates children on the importance of safe sex.

After learning about the relevant care Planned Parenthood provides, someone might

wonder why there is so much controversy surrounding the organization. One of the issues people

have is that they think the organization is illegally profiting from fetal tissue donation. According

to The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (2015), there is no evidence of

Planned Parenthood doing so. The website observes that the amount in which they are being

reimbursed is perfectly legal because it is not enough to be defined as valuable consideration.

Another dilemma people have is that Planned Parenthood provides abortion services. It is

understandable that some might find abortion services to be immoral or go against their religious

beliefs. Abortions only make up 3% of the services provided at Planned Parenthood clinics (The
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House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 2015). Also, tax dollars are not being

used to provide these abortions. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

website discusses how the only time federal funds ever go towards abortion services is if the

mother’s life is in danger, in cases of rape, or incest. The manner in which it performs these

abortions is legal. The webpage asserts that there is no conceivable evidence concluding that

Planned Parenthood is “altering timing, method, or procedure of an abortion”, or performing

partial birth abortions.

Planned Parenthood is a valuable resource for men and women across the United States.

From 1916 to the present era, Planned Parenthood has been beneficial to many Americans,

despite much opposition. It provides healthcare to 2.5 million people across all 50 states.

Government agencies have dispelled the myths about Planned Parenthood performing any illegal

actions and mishandling funds. Therefore it should receive government funding for now and the

future, and it should not be defunded due to partisan politics.

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References

Planned Parenthood. (n.d.). Official Site. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

Lawrence, H. C., & Ness, D. L. (2017). Planned Parenthood Provides Essential Services That

Improve Women’s Health. Annals of Internal Medicine,166(6), 443. doi:10.7326/m17-

0217

Parenthood, P. (n.d.). The Impact of Defunding Planned Parenthood. Retrieved June 8, 2018,

from https://www.istandwithpp.org/defund-defined/impact-defunding-planned-

parenthood

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. (2018, January 03). Planned

Parenthood: Fact v. Fiction. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from https://democrats-

oversight.house.gov/planned-parenthood- fact-v- fiction

Hasstedt, K. (2017). Understanding Planned Parenthood's Critical Role in the Nation's Family

Planning Safety Net. Guttmacher Policy Review, 2012-14.