The defunded Planned Parenthood program takes a toll on many women

Nallely Delara

People start a riot when knowing that Planned Parenthood is going to be defunded in New York City in 2011.
Photo from creativecommons.com
People start a riot when knowing that Planned Parenthood is going to be defunded in New York City in 2011.

Due to personal opinions regarding abortion, the senate repeatedly attempted  to pass bills to try and defund Planned Parenthood.

A group of Republicans, mostly men, decided they will attempt to stop Planned Parenthood from receiving their government budget. According to its website, Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest provider of sex education and safe abortions.

Since the word went out that some conservative Republicans are planning to defund the organization, thousands of people have been ranting on social media. A vast amount of the tweets about the issue are related to feminism.

They argued that Republicans want to defund Planned Parenthood in efforts to prevent women from performing abortions. It is an attack on the feminist movement since it potentially limits women from the right to make a decisions about their own bodies.

There are already laws that prevent the organization from using federal grants to pay for the abortions in the first place, according to the Nov. 16, 2015, article “The facts on defunding Planned Parenthood in Ohio” published on cleveland.com. Therefore, Planned Parenthood’s usage of federal budget for abortions is not a valid reason for the senate to defund them because the budget cannot be used to pay for abortions.

The men in the senate should not be able to defund the organization that provides women with safe abortions simply because they think abortions go against certain morals. This will only eliminate women’s access to a safe abortion. If Planned Parenthood were to be defunded, abortions would not stop. It will only result in a greater percentage of death for women as they will not have the proper access to abortions.

Abortions are already not accessible mainly because of women’s financial status. According to World Health Organization, 47,000 women die every year because of illegal abortions worldwide.. Therefore without Planned Parenthood, more women will die.

Both genders are affected by this as Planned Parenthood is not just an abortion clinic. The organization also provides general health care, men’s sexual health information and resources and other services for both men and women.

On Jan. 17, the senate passed a bill in Ohio to defund Planned Parenthood and this was presented before the senate on  Dec. 3, 2015

One of the senate’s main reasons for wanting to defund Planned Parenthood is that 40 percent of the money given to the organization comes from federal funds, which is the money they get from taxpayers, according to the Sept. 30, 2015 article “The GOP Argument for Defunding Planned Parenthood Is Incoherent” published on slate.com. And as stated on the article, many Americans feel it’s not right that their taxes go for paying for abortions.

It is true that it’s morally wrong to use federal money to pay for abortions because 44 percent of Americans identify as pro-life, therefore their money shouldn’t pay for something that goes against their values and even religion.

If Planned Parenthood were to be defunded, will only result to a greater percentage of deaths of women as they will not have the proper access to abortions. Women who seek an abortion clinic will instead find other options and get the procedure done by someone who is not a professional, which results in complications and even death.

We as Americans cannot let this happen. Those who have or will soon have the ability to vote need to take action. We have to raise our voices and stop this from happening. All services offered by them are crucial to the healthcare of millions of Americans, not just women.