The Idiocy of Defunding Planned Parenthood

In America, we are taught that everyone has the same, basic fundamental rights no matter race or gender. However, the government is currently trying to mess with these basic rights by taking away a woman’s right to choose what she does with her body by defunding Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood was first founded in October 16, 1916 by Margaret Sanger, Ethel Bryne, and Fania Mindell. It was founded on the basis that women should have the information and care that they need to live strong, healthy lives to fulfill their dreams. In 1973, abortion became legalized for women who wanted to end their pregnancy. Planned Parenthood clinics allow women the choice to end their pregnancy if needed. Today, there are more than 600 health centers around the United States. It provides a safety net for many young women all around the country and makes women feel like they have choice on what happens with their own body. However, many people want to defund planned parenthood clinics and make abortions illegal. By defunding planned parenthood clinics, you take away a women’s right to choose what happens to her body. Instead of giving her that choice, which is a basic freedom, you take away her rights which is not only unethical, it is just wrong on so many levels.

One out of six women are victims of sexual abuse; every 98 seconds someone is sexually assaulted in America. Sadly, sexual abuse is something that is not uncommon in our modern day, it’s always happening. In many situations, sexual abuse results in the victim getting pregnant. Victims of sexaul abuse will turn to Planned Parenthood for support and guidance in their time of need. Many times, those women will want to get an abortion to terminate the pregnancy. Too many individuals, conservatives in particularly, believe that human life begins at conception and abortion is the murder of a human being. What they don’t understand is the view from the victim itself, who had to go through that tragedy and is now carrying the baby of her sexual abuser. It takes a physical and mental toll on the person who was abused. The baby is just a reminder of what she went through and sometimes, many women don’t want to carry that around with them, so they turn to Planned Parenthood for a safe abortion. Just because the woman doesn’t want to keep the baby, doesn’t make her a horrible person, she is just doing what is best for her. In many cases, the sexual abuser is a family member. You’re tellling me, that a women who is sexual abused by a family member and gets pregnant, should keep the baby? No. It is the women’s choice on what she decides to do with the baby, in the end, and should never be placed into the hands of other people to decide what the women is allowed to do with her body.

Along with abortions, Planned Parenthood provides health care to many individuals. They teach many young individuals how to have safe sex, provide women with birth control, teach individuals about STDs, and screen for cancers. By defunding this program, many people will be left without the right, affordable care that they need. Cecile Richards, a former president of Planned Parenthood, believes that women’s preventive care, including birth control, is basic health care. She says it shouldn’t be a revolutionary idea, but unfortunately it is to some. Like her and many others, she believes that women’s preventive care is our basic right, which it is. Along with many other women, I use birth control as well. It not only is used as a preventive measure for young adults who are sexually active, it helps many women with their menstrual cycle. It is also our basic right to have affordable access to this care, which would be taken away from hundreds of thousands of women if Planned Parenthood becomes defunded. It is a basic right that I deserve as a woman and by taking this away, you take away the basic fundamental rights of women everywhere.

The fact that the government, mainly Trump and the right wing, wants to defund Planned Parenthood is ridiculous. They shouldn’t be allowed to choose what a women can and cannot do. The government doesn’t have the right to choose what happens to a woman’s body. It is my body my choice. Sadly, we live in a society that thinks they can make all these choices for women. Until they are in a women’s shoes, they will never understand what a women goes through and the difficult choices they have to make regarding preventive care and abortions.