Why We Need Planned Parenthood

As a young woman fresh out of college, recently married and in between the lower and middle class (depending on how you measure), I can say that Planned Parenthood can be a lifesaver. Planned Parenthood offers so many services, not just to women but to entire families. When you find yourself sick or at risk of disease from STD's to cancer, and no doctor will see you because of lack of insurance and lack of funds, Planned Parenthood is there to help. The employees of Planned Parenthood are welcoming, open minded to any situation that you may be in, and genuinely just want to help you be healthy. Sometimes, young girls come in overwhelmed with anxiety, fear and embarrassment, and that one simple STD test can relieve them. Knowledge is power and just knowing what is happening to your body can make all the difference.

While many politicians and religious representatives claim that "Planned Parenthood is Evil" and make dramatic claims, they fail to realize that we're not all celibate nor sinners. For example, on the Jesus is Savior website it says, "PP has consistently refused to give our children a clear message of “right” and “wrong.” It seeks not to educate our children in moral values, but to indoctrinate them into the Humanist philosophy that proclaims there is no objective moral code, and that right and wrong can be decided solely by the individual." Are those our choices? Be human or follow Jesus? I don't know about all of the other young and independent individuals out there, but making my own choices for myself sounds pretty good to me. What makes the writer of this article assume that they know what is "right" or "wrong" for someone they don't even know? Media reporters such as Glenn Beck try to claim that Planned Parenthood is abusive and nonsense. He commented during an interview about Planned Parenthood, "... there is a growing evil in the world and there is a growing number of people that are willing to turn their head and look the other way. And that’s got to stop."

I agree Glenn, people turning their head the other way and denying the fact that youth have sex (even before marriage, oh no!) is a reality. Planned Parenthood is by no means encouraging people to have sex, they are simply encouraging people that have already decided to do it, to be safe. Look at shows like MTV's "16 and Pregnant which now has grown into two seasons and two sequel seasons titled "Teen Mom." Teen pregnancy (aka sexual activity among youth) is so big that it's making reality TV (and many magazine covers). Most of those teenagers on the show admit during interviews that their parents didn't talk to them and/or that they didn't use protection. What does Planned Parenthood offer? Education and protection.

I would like to touch back on what I mentioned earlier, that Planned Parenthood offers services to everyone and not just young women. If you look at their annual report you can see that they offer STD tests, contraception, cancer screening, and other services. Abortion services (which seems to be the big highlight when politicians try to bash Planned Parenthood and ban it to hell) only makes up 3% of their total services. Three percent? How can these people be willing to throw away all of the other important and lifesaving services just because they disagree with something that they do only 3% of the time? I'm not claiming to be for or against abortion, but I am 100% for human health.

I've personally been into Planned Parenthood and I've seen kids with colds and women with an unusual lump on their breast. These people aren't dirty, sinful or even "baby killers" as extremists like Glenn Beck would like to claim. It’s sad that so many Americans have experienced the country’s poor healthcare system and find themselves injured or sick but with no where to turn. Planned Parenthood is run on donations, not government funding. Who’s donating? People who care, people who have been there, people who have felt that pain and that fear. I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that I’ve even donated what little bit I can. Not because I encourage young girls to have unprotected sex or kill babies, but because I believe that we all have a right to have sex if we want and still be healthy. That’s our choice to make.

President Obama gave his own opinion on the matter and immediately outraged the conservatives and many Catholics, claiming that he doesn't care about unborn babies. He said, "Thanks to all of you at Planned Parenthood for all the work that you are doing for women all across the country and for families all across the country...We know that it’s about whether or not women have equal rights under the law. We know that a woman’s right to make a decision about how many children she wants to have and when—without government interference—is one of the most fundamental freedoms we have in this country." I’d say he nailed it. It’s about our rights. Just like it’s our choice to have sex or not, it’s also our right to exercise that freedom safely and with the right education and protection.

These people that want to bring Planned Parenthood down and point fingers that they are raising an evil youth or “murdering” innocent babies don’t know what Planned Parenthood is all about. I can bet that none of them have sat in a waiting room and kindly talked to the poor patients who are waiting anxiously. I can bet that they have never had a scary situation whether from rape, a condom break or a lump on their breast and no doctor to go to. I have no problem with a difference in opinion or perspective but I do have a problem with closed minded and ignorant arguments that are only putting (human, already living) people at risk.

Planned Parenthood isn’t evil or murderous, they are offering quality medical services to men, women and children who have nowhere else to go. Protection is provided, STD’s are treated, cancer is found and anxiety is relieved. And I see no problem with that.