By Chelsea Titus
Round Table editor
One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four… Every 20 seconds in America there is an abortion.
Three million women per year use no contraception or birth control, which accounts for 47 percent of unplanned pregnancies, according to americanpregnancy.org.
On Feb. 18 the U.S. House of Representatives voted to bar Planned Parenthood health centers from all federal funding for birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other lifesaving care.
Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate. Planned Parenthood also works with partner organizations worldwide to improve the sexual health and well-being of individuals and families everywhere.
Five million women, men and adolescents adhere to Planned Parenthood’s healthcare, information, and education each year.
If Planned Parenthood can take 90 percent of its clients and help those with preventive, primary care to prevent unintended pregnancies through contraception, reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections through testing and treatment, and screen for cervical and other cancers, then why bar federal funding?
Isn’t the goal to reduce unplanned pregnancies overall?
Republicans argued that the amendment was necessary to prevent taxpayer money from funding abortions—even though, under Title X, the organization is already prohibited from using federal funds for such purposes.
How can the republicans say that the funding goes towards abortions when the primary care of Planned Parenthood is to emphasize the meaning of “planned parenthood?”
The amendment, which was introduced by republican representative Mike Pence of Indiana, passed 240 to 185, mostly along party lines. The title still faces a vote in the Senate.
Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards told Mother Jones magazine that she believes they can win enough votes in the Senate to restore Title X funding. “We’ve taken this vote before,” Richards said.
Without access to basic health care Planned Parenthood provides, more women will die, fewer children will receive pre- and post-natal care. There will be more unwanted pregnancies and, ironically, more abortions.
