By Christine Aquor & Megan Kaczmarczyk
Viking Longboat
Haslett HS
1st Place
Division 3, News Writing
Pro/Con Editorial Columns
Planned Parenthood saves lives
Since the historic 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, a woman’s right to control her body has been the center of a male dominated public debate. Hoards of politicians, lobbyists and activists have fought tooth and nail to strip federal funding for Planned Parenthood, America’s largest provider of reproductive health services, since the non-profit’s inception in 1912.
Now, thanks to the release of a heavily edited video depicting a Planned Parenthood official discussing the sale of human fetus tissue, the organization is facing public outrage. Although the Senate rejected the provision that would have defunded Planned Parenthood, many pro-lifers, be it as politicians or concerned citizens, are scrambling to find a new way to strip the organization of federal funds.
To the uninformed individual, it looks like a simple correlation; less cash means less terminated pregnancies. However, what most people don’t realize is that the use of government money for abortion is illegal. In actuality, what defunding would really affect is Planned Parenthood’s ability to provide cost effective health services to people who can’t otherwise afford it.
That means poor women of color living in urban areas will not be able to get lifesaving cancer screenings.
It means broke college students will have to suffer with their STDs because they can’t afford treatment.
It means the 432,000 scared and confused teenagers who seek the organization’s sex ed resources will be turned away empty handed.
And regardless of how controversial abortion is, it cannot be denied that legal or not, the procedure will still be sought out by desperate women. The only difference is fatalities will be virtually guaranteed if the procedure is performed in the back alley and not by a clean, licensed medical
institution like Planned Parenthood.
Ironically, it’s the radical pro-life groups that are jeopardizing the sanctity of nearly 3 million people’s lives. No other health center is as accessible, affordable or attentive as Planned Parenthood. Not only is Medicaid accepted at all 2,840,000 locations, it also offers medical services at the fraction of a hospital’s cost. This is why a fifth of all clients are low-income women. The organization has ensured that women won’t be paying a fortune for necessary healthcare.
However, because of the efforts of lobby groups like the Center for Medical Process, who is behind the skewed video, many people are convinced the organization is sinister.
Contrary to popular belief, Planned Parenthood is not hacking up babies in a backroom for profit, nor is it raking in millions for countless abortions performed. Abortive procedures make up 3 percent of provided services, compared to the 45 percent for contraception and sex education resources, both of which have been proven to reduce the risk of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. And as for the alleged selling of baby parts, with a client’s consent, the usage of fetal tissue for scientific purposes is not illegal – and neither is getting paid to cover the costs of implantation, processing and storage. In fact, fertility clinics will often do the same thing, so why is no one threatening to close those down?
Easy answer: Women’s healthcare is not taken seriously. Thousands of innocent lives are being put on the line due to the perpetuation of inaccurate information and it could have disastrous results.
That’s why its absolutely necessary for everyone to stop going off of their biased notions on what Planned Parenthood does and conduct their own research. The facts will speak for themselves. Rather than being a murderous corporation, Planned Parenthood is saving lives that would otherwise be disregarded..
Planned Parenthood condones murder
A cold, stone, one room jail cell is the normal consequence for a murderer. But not all murders. In fact, most get away with it.
Science is clear that human life begins at conception when a new human being is formed. In which case, that would make abortion considered murder. However, according to Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report, the organization’s affiliates performed 327,166 abortions. That’s more than 30 percent of the estimated 1.058 mil-lion abortions performed annually in the United States. In another annual report from Planned Parenthood it is reported an unborn baby dies every 96 seconds within a Planned Parenthood clinic. I personally believe that innocent human life should be protected, especially when it is most defenseless.
Another ongoing concern with Planned Parenthood is the selling of fetal tissues. A widespread video circulating news websites, shows the selling of the baby’s dead body parts after an abortion. Although it was found after a probe into Planned Parenthood that nothing specifically illegal had occurred, the selling of fetal tissues is absurd and should be illegal.
According to Planned Parent-hood’s annual revenue report, the group’s revenue exceeds $1.3 billion and report that 41 percent of the income came in the form of government health services grants and reimbursements. However, the organization received hundreds of millions of dollars from state taxes annually.
If we stop funding Planned Parenthood through taxpayer dollars, then it will be forced to find other ways to get revenue, which will hopefully lead to the fall out of all Planned Parenthood clinics.
The government should stop funding the clinic as well since abortion is an ongoing issue that has caused a lot of political tension. For instance, a proposed bill called the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 prohibits, for a one-year period, the avail-ability of federal funds for any purpose to any Planned Parent-hood clinic or any of its affiliates. Those affiliates must certify the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion during such period. However, the bill failed to pass through the Senate. I hope a compromise can be reached to finally make abortion illegal in all of the United States and that we agree to stop funding all Planned Parenthood clinics.
Although some may argue that Planned Parenthood is a beneficial service to unprivileged kids, I am more than certain that they can find other ways to retrieve birth control or STD checks such as visiting a primary care physician or local gynecologist. Although some may argue those aren’t as effective due to long wait periods or lack of funds, I believe that that’s the price to pay for saving just one human life. Planned Parenthood does not deserve to be funded by the government nor us taxpayers. Every human life matters. born or unborn.