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Stage 5: Should the government continue to fund Planned Parenthood

                                        


   On April 13 2017, the New York Times reported that President Trump signed legislation aimed at cutting of federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that performed abortions. This move was welcomed by several conservatives who wanted to impose curbs on reproductive rights. I do not agree with this move as I believe defunding such organizations will bring about more problems.

 Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health services in the United States and internationally. In 2014, federal and state governments provided the organization with $528 million in funding (40% of its annual budget). The majority of this funding comes from Medicaid which subsidizes reproductive healthcare for low-income women. Abortions account for about 3 percent of the services that they provide, the other services include education, outreach, and reproductive healthcare such as contraception and treating sexually transmitted diseases. 

 One of the reasons that some people are against the funding of Planned Parenthood is because they believe that most of it goes to providing abortions and by doing so, they are taking away an innocent life . However as mentioned above, Planned Parenthood also provides contraceptive services for people who for whatever reason do not have access to them. Without these services, there may be more unwanted pregnancies. Therefore the government should continue funding Planned Parenthood, as they help to reduce unwanted pregnancies, which in turn also reduces the need for abortion.

 Another reason I believe that the government should continue funding Planned Parenthood is because they provide safe abortions. Reports have shown that before Roe vs Wade, there were around 200,000 to 1.2 million illegal abortions every year, and there were significant amount of fatalities from these abortions. Therefore, by funding Planned Parenthood, this prevent women from risking their lives by seeking out these illegal clinics to end their pregnancies.

 In conclusion, I strongly believe that the government should continue to fund Planned Parenthood as they do perform an important role in providing high quality care and keeping the people they serve healthy.

Comments

  1. Kelly LaJuly 31, 2017 at 9:32 PM

    RE: "Stage 5: Should the government continue to fund Planned Parenthood"

    On July 26th, 2017, my classmate from 50Stars blog published a post titled "Should the government continue to fund Planned Parenthood." They argued that federal funding for Planned Parenthood should continue because it provides many services to, primarily low-income, women aside from abortion. I completely agree with 50Stars's reasonings that Planned Parenthood provides a safe environment for abortions to take place, as well as contraceptions to prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce abortions altogether. However, I believe there is a stronger reasoning for the continuation of funding for this organization.

    Planned Parenthood does perform abortions for women who qualify, but only 3% of their services provided consist of abortions! They provide multiple options for women regarding pregnancies, resulting in "80% of patients receiving services to prevent unintended pregnancies." These clinics help to prevent approximately 560,000 unexpected pregnancies each year. Whether it is through their educational program or by promoting safe sex and handing out free condoms, Planned Parenthood is able to advise adolescents and young adults about personal choices and available options for the aftermath.
    Keeping Planned Parenthood is also essential for those who can only afford their healthcare. Nearly "4 in 10 report that it is their only source of healthcare," with these clinics providing regular check ups as well as more than 4.2 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections.

    The most important feature of Planned Parenthood is one that most people overlook: Planned Parenthood offers more than abortions. All in all, Planned Parenthood is the place to go for low-income families to educate themselves about their sexual and reproductive health or orientation, in addition to access to affordable contraceptives, abortions, and tests for different sexually transmitted diseases. I believe that it's an excellent nonprofit organization that deserves to be funded and frankly, we deserve to have Planned Parenthood.

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