Republicans and conservatives alike tend to portray Planned Parenthood as primarily focused on performing abortions, but this simply is not the case. What many people fail to realize is that abortions only account for 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s total health care services. There’s been much debate regarding the recent budget cut proposals that would essentially wipe out the 90-year-old organization, making access to birth control, STI tests and cancer screenings nearly impossible for many Americans.
In light of the recent movement against Planned Parenthood, women are planning to send House speaker John Boehner women’s and men’s undergarments to fight for both the female and male right to be in control of their reproductive health.
Planned Parenthood currently gets its funding from Title X, Medicaid and donations. Title X is a provision signed in by Republican Pres. Richard Nixon that provides grants for family planning and other related health services, such as cancer screenings. What the majority of Republicans want is to allow states to redirect that money away from organizations that provide abortions in addition to cutting $317 million from Planned Parenthood for the 2011 fiscal year.
It’s easy for many people who are against abortion to be in favor of a proposition such as this one. What many of these people fail to realize is that federal laws bar Planned Parenthood and other organizations from using tax dollars for abortion. In 1976, after the landmark Supreme Court Case that legalized abortion, the Hyde Amendment was passed that bars the use of any tax dollars for abortions. There are some exceptions, but only for rare cases, such as rape, incest or to save the life or health of the mother.
According to Planned Parenthood, the organization has said more than 90 percent of it’s total healthcare services are preventative. Its doctors and nurses conduct over 1 million screenings for cervical cancer, 830,000 breast exams and some 4 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections annually.
“The truth is that the rider regarding Planned Parenthood would bar Planned Parenthood from being paid by Medicaid and other federal programs for providing women with birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and testing and treatment for other sexually transmitted diseases,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said.
Personally, I think it’s outrageous that our government wants to make it harder for women to obtain the health services that they need. What I fail to understand is the logic behind the Republicans and conservatives who are backing this. For the most part, they don’t favor social welfare and they evidently don’t favor organizations that provide a variety of services, just as Planned Parenthood does. I fail to see how a desire for the removal of preventative resources and healthcare for women along with disapproval for social welfare makes any sense.
Rudy Mendoza is a sophomore communications major and contributing writer for the Daily 49er.
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