Issues in Planned Parenthood Funding

Planned Parenthood partakes in illegal fetal tissue sale that violates what the current law states.This organization has been given a bad reputation since it was founded in October of 1916. People who oppose Planned Parenthood want to shut them down because they conduct abortions and are convinced that this is their main service. Without politics coming into play, and the Republican side trying to falsify information about Planned Parenthood, reduced funding would not be suggested. The idea of shutting the organization down wouldn’t even come up in a campaign because of the good services it provides to low income people.  Planned Parenthood’s U.S. government funding should be increased so they can continue to be accessible to the low-income class and be able to continue to perform the services they have been providing for men, women, and children.

The services that Planned Parenthood does provide are ignored. Little do people know their uncle receives a flu shot at Planned Parenthood every fall, or someone’s aunt may get a mammogram because their insurance does not cover costs at a local clinic. Certified nurses and doctors are hired to ensure the best care is given at Planned Parenthood with an affordable price for the same services as the walk-in clinic. Many are astonished by all these different health care services that Planned Parenthood provides. The organization specializes in reproductive care which has given Planned Parenthood a bad reputation because people are not understanding the diverse services they extend. Some of the services that are put forth are; checkups, gynecologist appointments, cancer screenings, STD testing, vaccinations, anemia testing, cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure. These offerings are in support of better health for a person who wants to receive care.

 Planned Parenthood  provides many reliable and safe services for men, women, and children. Two of these services being the basic checkups and care one should receive and education they provide. They have well trained nurses and doctors for the care of men, women, and children. They are like any other doctors’ office besides being affordable for low-income families. This organization is confidential, so young women can go to Planned Parenthood and get the help they need. They can get tested for STDs, receive types of contraception, and even get counseled in cases of rape. It also offers testing for cancer, diabetes, routine physical exams, and provides the option to receive flu shot. Anyone can go to Planned Parenthood for work and school physical exams. Not only does Planned Parenthood provide general health services but provides education to keep people safe and healthy. They provide education on cancer, abstinence and birth control, sexual diseases and any other education one may be seeking. Many people rely on this company for their services rather than a doctor’s office. Planned Parenthood is an association that men, women, and children can rely on to receive safe and reliable health care and services. 

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An important service that Planned Parenthood offers is the ability to give out birth control. This is another unfavorable service that Planned Parenthood offers, but it is a must. Some people think that not giving out birth control will prevent teenagers from having sex and make them not want to do it at all. Obviously it is more than just teenagers taking advantage of birth control at Planned Parenthood.  According to the article, Family Planning Agencies: Services, Policies, and Funding, written by Henshaw, Stanley, et al, “Planned Parenthoodaffiliates provide contraceptive services for an average of 2,041 clients per clinic site, compared with 761 per health department clinic.” It states clients of all ages, not just teenagers. Either way if the issue is teenagers having premarital sex and birth control is “condoning it”, without the contraception, the rates in teenage pregnancy and abortions would go up.  Planned Parenthood prescribing  birth control is an important feature of this organization and needs to be supported to help people who are needing birth control.

Also, Planned Parenthood offers Gynecologist services. Taken care of by certified OB-GYN’s, they give Pap Smears, Breast exams, mammograms, and all other services that a Gynecologist covers at a local clinic. They offer exams with Pap Smears starting from the age 21 all the way to 50 to treat the start of menopause. Expecting the same as the local clinic, gynecologists check the patients blood pressure, weight, and height before examination. They will then move onto examining their patients’ breasts for any unnecessary lumps or unusual discharge, regardless the cause of the appointment.  The staff at Planned Parenthood are experts in this field and provide the same quality as any other gynecologists.

The assumption is Planned Parenthood’s main focus is handing out abortions like candy. Even though Planned Parenthood is government funded, they cannot use funding towards abortions. According to AJPH Perspectives article it states,” Those attacking Planned Parenthood do so to restrict access to abortion services; however, for the past 40 years, the Hyde Amendment has prohibited use of federal funds for abortion services unless a woman’s life is endangered or in cases of rape or incest” (1040). People decide to ignore that all the other health care facilities also offer abortions and are not asked to be shut down. Another common misconception is Planned Parenthood is performing abortions as a contraceptive. People have under educated themselves about the organization. Planned Parenthood is a non-judgmental clinic. With this said, they still do not encourage patients to abort they provide them with facts and information to help make the patient make an informed decision. Common reasons for patients receiving an abortion are urgent cases like; rape, incest, and ectopic pregnancy where the mother is vulnerable to losing her own life with no survival rate of the baby. Rarely does Planned Parenthood provide abortions due to financial status of a patient. Planned Parenthood utilizes there counseling program and offers adoptions information in instances of a person not being able to afford a baby.  Abortions are more likely to be given in cases of endangerment versus being used as a contraceptive.

Planned Parenthood opens the doors to adoption and encourages it more than abortion. They help counsel pregnant women who can’t afford to go to a doctors’ center to receive information about adoptions or other choices they may have. Planned Parenthood provides a lot of information to soon to be mothers and fathers who do not wish to keep their child. They help them in terms of finding the right adoption agency, walking them through all the procedures that are required prior to adoption, and giving support to the mother’s decision. They provide factual and supporting information to this decision of adoption. According to the Planned Parenthood’s website, Planned Parenthood agencies have staff that are trained to give their patients and clients the best information about all their options. On Planned Parenthood’s website, they have an entire list of questions people might have about adoption. [These questions and answers range from why someone should choose adoption, who people can talk to, how adoption feels to the parents, and how soon the mother needs to make certain decisions.]  Some of these facts include where to find an adoption agency, how to place your child for adoption, different types of adoption options, and the laws that go with it. There is a lot that goes into adoption and it can make the parents’ heads spin. So, Planned Parenthood gives the parents questions to ask adoption centers to help them make the right decision. Planned Parenthood provides services to soon to be mothers who are in fear and confused on what decisions to make. This agency will give factual information and provide support to those thinking about adoption.

Planned Parenthood does their best to educate pregnant women of the psychological effects of abortion.  They educate pregnant women of the mental effects they might endure as well as giving them alternatives, such as adoption. They give the client information about keeping the baby, what help they can receive, and gives information concerning adoption. Planned Parenthood does their best to aware pregnant women of the psychological effects of abortion. According to the American Pregnancy Association, these emotional effects range from regret or guilt, anxiety, not taking care of their own needs, and depression. Although going through an abortion may make some women feel relieved, many regret their decision for the rest of their lives. Abortion Facts did a research on women who have had abortions. In their study they found, “Within 8 weeks after their abortions, 55% expressed guilt, 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor” (pg. 25).  This quote shows how women have major effects not only on their physical health, but on their mental health also. If women are educated on what effects abortions have on a person, they are more likely to find a different way. It is important that Planned Parenthood is funded because it provides this information and educates women on the effects of having an abortion. Planned Parenthood encourages adoption, and makes women aware of psychological effects that could occur with having an abortion.

Planned Parenthood is a place where anyone can receive help.According to Jennifer Frost who is a Senior Research Associate for Guttmacher Institute, “For many women, Planned Parenthood health centers are their main source of primary and reproductive health care. Research has shown that four in ten (41%) patients rely on a family planning clinic as their only recent source for health care services” (pg. 1). This article is showing how important it is for politics to focus on the needs of family planning clinic verses a big corporation who potentially looks past the needs of the patient and focuses on the corporation’s needs. Many people are against abortion even if it’s a case of endangerment. Everyone has their own views on abortions and how it should be handled. This is one of many reasons why politicians use Planned Parenthood or defunding Planned Parenthood as a prong in their speeches to gather votes. Needless to say politics have avoided the bigger reason Planned Parenthood Clinics are around. The N.P.R website provided an interview with the CEO of Planned Parenthood that was written by Julie Rovner a credible author, Cecile Richards,

 “When politicians are talking about defunding Planned Parenthood just because they have a small interest group in their ear about one piece of safe and legal abortion services that we provide, they are forgetting about the fact that when they are doing that, it is blocking access to some of the most vulnerable people in medically underserved areas.”(N.P.R, Julie Rovner)

 Fifty six percent of Planned Parenthood Clinics are located in tough areas that forgo problems with women finding care due to the areas being under assisted medically.

When researching Planned Parenthood people will find an overwhelming amount of information on Title X. The federal family planning program, known as “Title X,” is named for its section in the federal Public Health Service Act. Title X became a law in 1970 which was three years before the Supreme Court legalized abortion in the Roe v. Wade case. According to Julie Rovner, a writer who has been covering health policies for over 16 years states in her article from 2016, “Title X has given care to 4 million patients with services through 4,000 clinics”.  This means Title X has been increasingly helping more and more people. These patients have been devastatingly young, female and considered low-income as virtually two-thirds tumble below the federal poverty line. According to Office of Assistant Planning and Evaluation website which is from the U.S Department of Health Office, “the Poverty line considered for a family of 4 is a yearly income of 25,100. Monthly this equals out to 2,091.67.” If a family is making the said amount how can they be expected to pay full insurance rate cost plus cost of services that aren’t covered? They can’t. They need options like Planned Parenthood that offer Title X to aid them in having care for their whole family. Title X is an important feature that helps Planned Parenthood provide better care for their patients.

A few reasons that someone might want to defund Planned Parenthood is that it is a place that prevents life, and has unqualified staff. This company has been preventing life for years in so many ways. They murder unborn babies, and give women contraceptives that are preventing life. Stated by Francesca, a write from Tremr “contraception is the most popular patient care provided by Planned Parenthood (33%).” While this is a factual statement, not every patient that goes to this facility is looking for a contraception. Another reason this facility can be looked at as a terrible place is because the staff are not well trained. In the article Former Planned Parenthood workers post troubling online review of abortion giant on August 24th, 2016 a former employee of Planned parenthood talked about how she worked with such uncompassionate work ethics, and with no care about the patients. Another anonymous former employee at Planned Parenthood states, “Honestly the MOST disrespectful management I have ever encountered in my ENTIRE career. It was shocking how degrading management was to the very people providing services to clients.” However when a person is accepting into a job in the health field a person must take the Hippocratic Oath. This oath states that “I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgement; I will keep them from harm and injustice”. That being said a patient can not be treated with such harm in any facility running with licensed physicians. The thought to be undereducated staff, and rumors of a life ending facility may be reasons the public would want to cut Planned Parenthood’s  funding.

The solution is to get more knowledge of Planned Parenthood out to the public. This will be difficult, but can be done. Get politicians such as Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan to expand views of Planned Parenthood by looking at the statistics of how helpful these Family Planning Services are change the views of the people who are against Planned Parenthood. Congressman Tim Walz has a 100% pro choice voting record. He also voted to save the Affordable Care Act which is related to helping those with no insurance. He has put his foot down on taking funding away from places that help low income women get the health care they need. Getting a letter out to Tim Walz explaining that more education needs to be heard about Planned Parenthood will make the public aware of the importance Planned Parenthood has to all communities.There are many other great services that Planned Parenthood provides that not many people are aware of. With the help of Tim Walz Planned Parenthood could advertise these services to make it more known to the public. Peggy Flanagan, a member of the house of representatives is also making moves to better women’s health care. Peggy has voted against bills that restrict women’s rights on their own bodies multiple times. Reaching out to Peggy is a must. This information needs more advertisement along with information on what services Planned Parenthood provides,

 Planned Parenthood has a commitment to gain support and receive more funding to keep care accessible for all genders and ages, providing information to society to better understand what services they offer and that they have a positive impact on the community. Before having a negative outlook, know the services they provide. They provide services all the way from flu shots to prenatal care. Besides the health care given for women and babies, there are services offered for men and children also, such as clinic checkups, counseling, and sexual education. Planned Parenthood is also in support of low-income families, without health insurance. Planned Parenthood is located all over the U.S. Many are avoiding going to the doctor because they cannot afford it without insurance and it should not be this way. The misconception that abortion is the most prominent service at Planned Parenthood has been ruled out. Since Planned Parenthood’s services are used by many low income families, the government should fund the organization more to keep it going. The government’s main job is to take care of people in their country, even the lower class. For now, Planned Parenthood is being funded through Medicaid, Title X, and donations. The goal is to keep Planned Parenthood running for all patients and to have each citizen taken care of.

Works Cited

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• Affairs, Office of Population. “Statutes and Regulations.” HHS.gov, US Department of Health and Human Services, 1 June 2018, www.hhs.gov/opa/title-x-family-planning/about-title-x-grants/statutes-and-regulations/index.html.
• American Adoptions, Inc. “‘What Does Adoption Mean to a Child?”.” American Adoptions – Tennessee Adoption Laws | Adoption Laws in TN, www.americanadoptions.com/pregnant/waiting_adoptive_families. 
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• Francesca. “Planned Parenthood Pros & Cons.” Tremr, 30 Sept. 2015, www.tremr.com/francesca/planned-parenthood-pros-cons.
• Frost, Jennifer. “Specialized Family Planning Clinics in the United States: Why Women Choose Them and Their Role in Meeting Women’s Health Care Needs.” Www.plannedparenthood.org, 2017, www.plannedparenthood.org/uploads/filer_public/13/f5/13f5301f-273a-43ad-b300-e25bd88b6018/fact_sheet__the_irreplaceable_role_of_pp_health_centers_dec_2017.pdf.
• Henshaw, Stanley K., and Aida Torres. “Family Planning Agencies: Services, Policies and Funding.” Family Planning Perspectives, vol. 26, no. 2, Mar. 1994, pp. 52–82. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9406031524&site=ehost-live.
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• Novielli, Carole. “Former Planned Parenthood Workers Post Troubling Online Reviews of Abortion Giant.” Live Action News, 27 Sept. 2016, www.liveaction.org/news/former-planned-parenthood-workers-post-troubling-reviews-of-abortion-giant-online/.
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• “Study Claiming Women Don’t Regret Abortions Deeply Flawed and Deceptive.” After Abortion, 15 July 2015, afterabortion.org/2015/study-claiming-women-dont-regret-abortions-doesnt-settle-the-debate/. 
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