By: Olivia King
Planned Parenthood is currently under the national spotlight; the question of whether or not to fund it has been the subject of heated debate in recent months.  Some people in this country, who have always been able to afford healthcare, have a problem with the federal funding of planned parenthood because of its abortion services. But here’s the thing: I know abortion is a sticky subject, and while I’m pro-choice and think it’s an important aspect of Planned Parenthood, the organization does so much more than that.
The federal government doesn’t even fund their abortions, which make up only 3% of their services overall. Which to be honest, a lot of people don’t seem to understand. Planned Parenthood provides healthcare for women who can’t afford it, saving lives through their breast cancer screenings, treatment for cervical cancer, and other services. An annual pap smear exam and results could cost up to $500 dollars for a woman without health insurance, but Planned Parenthood offers a discounted rate of $175. Many people simply cannot afford healthcare’s steep charges and Planned Parenthood offers services in abortion, birth control, emergency contraception, general health care, HIV testing, LGBT services, men’s health care, pregnancy testing and services, STD testings with treatments and vaccines, and women’s health care. Not only do they provide these services to men, women, and teens, but the Planned Parenthood Action website deals with things from Medicaid and sexual assault to healthcare for immigrants and birth control.
Planned Parenthood provides nonjudgmental legal, helpful, and affordable services for women, men, and teens, and yet they are only safe with funding until December 11th, 2015. Trying to shut it down because it provides abortion services is frankly ridiculous; it is clearly another attempt of men in government trying to tell women what to do with their bodies.
Even if you do not believe in abortion, even if you think it’s horrible and has to stop immediately, you cannot keep attacking Planned Parenthood. It’s more than just abortion- it’s healthcare many lower to middle class people depend on in this country to stay healthy. And yet, here we are anyway, debating if we should keep supporting an organization that is so important to so many people.
I have to ask myself why people are so opposed to Planned Parenthood, and all I can really come up with is the underlying layers of sexism and classism in this country. People have even gone as far as to obtain bits of audio from workers at Planned Parenthood and take them out of context to make the organization look bad. They also face scrutiny from people in regards to to why the President of Planned Parenthood is making so much money and why she can’t just use her salary to fund Planned Parenthood, which is ridiculous. She is the president of a huge organization and does good work for Planned Parenthood and their clients. Why shouldn’t she make money? Would she had been faced with the same question if she were a man? And why do some people have such a problem with the federal funding of an organization that helps people? My opinion is the same as before: sexism and classism are embedded in our culture. The people in this country who cannot see Planned Parenthood for what it is (a helpful, affordable alternative for healthcare for those who can’t afford it, because hey! Guess what! Not everyone can afford it!) need to take a step back and realize that not everyone America has the same privileges as they do and need organizations like Planned Parenthood to support them and their families.
