www.npr.org/2011/09/20/140449957/gov-perry-cut-funds-for-womens-health-in-texas?sc=tw&ft=1&f=1014
"Well of course this is a war on birth control and abortions and everything, that's what family planning is supposed to be about,"I'm sure you've heard, by now, of the efforts (mostly successful) to defund Planned Parenthood, on the thinnest of excuses--that taxpayers who don't believe in abortion shouldn't have to pay for abortions for others. Well, I got news. I don't believe in war, but nobody is saving me from having my tax dollars go to fund wars.
As well, the defunding is not saving money--they are funding, instead, "crisis pregnancy centers," which are generally run by churches and frequently provide no medical services...just anti-abortion rhetoric and adoption counselling.
Never mind that it has been LAW for some time now that tax money will NOT PAY for abortions. No...let's just ignore that FACT, while we run on all sorts of lies about Planned Parenthood. The biggest lie being that the main service provided by Planned Parenthood is abortion. Anyone capable of typing the name into a search bar knows that 97% of Planned Parenthood's services have nothing to do with abortion. They provide health screenings--where else can you get a full range of annual tests for $100? Yup...mammogram, pap smear, diabetes, hypertension...all those killers of women can be detected for $100 at Planned Parenthood. Also, men can go there for help with that little souvenir from La Casa de Amor in Nuevo Laredo. Birth control in all its forms is available from Planned Parenthood. Abortion constitutes 3% of their services, and that 3% is not funded by taxpayers. Yet, the fat old white men in Congress have deemed that the mere fact that Planned Parenthood provides that Constitutionally legal service is enough to remove all support.
The three Austin clinics alone serve thousands of people every year, and only a few of them need abortions. Most are women who have no other access to the health screenings Planned Parenthood provides. It's probably impossible to quantify the impact of that. If not for PP, thousands of women cannot afford annual mammograms, pap smears, and tests for the other conditions listed above. How many deaths have these screenings prevented? Haw many deaths would ensue if PP were no longer able to provide such services at a reasonable rate?
...And then, in all reality, isn't it better to provide a "morning after pill," than not? As far as I'm concerned, the only reason to have a baby is because you want one. Because you are ready, you have the means to support a child, and a commitment to do so. To have one because society says you should, or your partner wants one, or your mother is howling for grandchildren...these are not good reasons. However, the very worst reason for having a child is as punishment for having had sex. Truly, do you think these fat cat politicians, with their health care funded on our dime, really think that, faced with the threat of pregnancy, women will stop having sex? Give me a break!
As I see it, there are three alternatives when faced with an unwanted pregnancy. A woman can bear the child and raise him or her. If not ready for the commitment, she can do a piss poor job of it. I'm not saying that every unexpected pregnancy results in an unwanted baby. Many women, over time, will come to accept the fact that they can raise a child. Many more delude themselves, and this can result in severe damage to the child. A second choice is to bear the baby and place him or her for adoption. I have personally done this, and, until recently, it was the hardest thing I had ever done. As a last resort, there is abortion. Each of these alternatives presents its own set of challenges, and I suspect that there are very few women who think, "So what if I get pregnant...I'll just get an abortion!"
Planned Parenthood supplies birth control. IUDs, pills, diaphragms, morning after pills...any form of it you need, you can get from Planned Parenthood. How is this not A Good Thing?
Preventing disease and unwanted pregnancy saves the taxpayers of this state and country money in the long run. We get cancer, heart disease or diabetes, we die. Eventually. Usually, not before receiving a lot of expensive treatment from taxpayers or charities whose money is desperately needed elsewhere.
Here's a link to Planned Parenthood Austin, where you can see what they do and help out if you can.
Don't let them kill us off with backroom abortions and diseases that can be prevented or detected and treated in the early stages.
We gained a lot of ground in the 1970s. Too much to let them take it all away now.
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