" Planned Parenthood is so much more than abortions. It is preventative care, cancer screenings, STI testing, contraceptive education, and female empowerment - to take charge of their own lives and choices (sexual activity, protecting their fertility, choosing when if ever to conceive, and options for the hardest choice a woman could ever make), and all in a safe, caring, compassionate, affordable setting.
Cutting their funding, which is not used for abortion services, does not eliminate abortions. It eliminates education, health care, and a safe haven for scared young women. Abortions will still happen - and society will pay for the infections and hackjobs. Unwanted children will be born and become a burden to not just the unwilling mother but society at large. And babies will be left more frequently in SafeHavens and dumpsters. Taking away PP will do nothing but shove women back into a corner, in the shadows."
I can't seem to stop myself from arguing on the internet with people who hide their misogyny behind a "Pro-Life" stance. For people who scream for the rights of a collection of cells that, if removed from the womb, cannot survive (there's a word for that entity, but people get pissed when I say 'parasite'); they sure don't give a damn for the lives of people who actually function as independent entities. I think a woman's life is more important than that of the unwanted thing giving her morning sickness. If, however, it's a wanted little bundle of cells it is damned well worth fighting for as well - And no pro-choice advocate will disagree with me.
We all want the abortion rate to go down, but we were focusing on the teen pregnancy rate - which went down in states where abortions are available. But we aren't supposed to make correlations. The only way to get both of those numbers down is through education. Since we all know that abstinence-only education is a complete failure, the only other option is comprehensive education and you know what? Planned Parenthood is really good at delivering that sort of thing!
At least I live in Vermont. Welch, Leahy, and Sanders have all heard from me several times. Have your representatives heard from you? Here's a link to the Open Letter to congress stating that you stand with Planned Parenthood. I hope you will sign it. Thank you.