Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health services throughout the United States and internationally. On December 4, 2015, the U. S. Senate passed legislation to defund the organization. Many Americans don't want their tax money being used for abortions, but in reality, "federal funds can't be used for abortions unless the pregnancy threatens the woman's life or was caused by rape or incest" (Saletan). Planned Parenthood should receive government funding because of all the services it provides to low-income women and women in general. 

The issue of defunding Planned Parenthood is important to me because I am a woman and if I couldn't afford proper healthcare, Planned Parenthood would be there for me. I honestly believe the reason why the government defunded Planned Parenthood is because male politicians can't handle the fact that a small amount of federal money goes to something that benefits women mainly. GOP presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, even said "I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues" (Hiltzik). I've never gone to a Planned Parenthood clinic, but I've read many stories about how the organization has saved many women's lives. I don't understand why the government would defund it. It's not only going to hurt low-income women, but it's going to hurt the government by causing it to spend more money due to unwanted pregnancies and births. I feel that I am qualified to write about the issue because I am knowledgeable on the services Planned Parenthood provides and I've read many different articles regarding the issue.

In William Saletan's article "The GOP Argument for Defunding Planned Parenthood is Incoherent", he talks about how the GOP's arguments cancel each other out. He was present when the president of Planned Parenthood spoke in front of the Republican members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for five hours. The article consists mostly of how the main reason the GOP has a problem with Planned Parenthood is because many Americans don't want their tax money used for abortions. He then goes on to say that abortions only make up about three percent of Planned Parenthood's work, and more than 80 percent of the money Planned Parenthood gets from the federal government is Medicaid reimbursement. He even states that the complaint about tax money doesn't make sense because federal funds can't be used for abortions unless the pregnancy threatens the woman's life or was caused by rape or incest. Saletan is credible because he is a journalist for Slate, an online current affairs, politics and culture magazine. He is definitely biased towards federal funding for Planned Parenthood, only because of all the facts that are present. 

Samantha Lachman's article "Chris Christie's Argument Against Planned Parenthood Falls Flat" talks about how New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was asked to name "one thing that the federal government does now that it should not do at all, that could be cut to balance the budget" (Lachman). Immediately, Christie said federal funding for Planned Parenthood. His claim was, "When you see thousands upon thousands upon thousands of children being murdered in the womb, I can't think of anything bigger than that" (Lachman). He clearly wasn't aware of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funding from going towards most abortions. The funds the health provider receives goes towards Medicaid and Title X services for low-income patients, like testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Also, Planned Parenthood only receives $528 million annually, which is a very small sum compared with the kind of cuts needed to balance the budget. Lachman is credible because she is covering the 2016 presidential election, state politics and civil rights issues for the Huffington Post. She is bias towards Planned Parenthood because Christie didn't characterize the federal funding that the organization receives accurately.

In Sarah Torre's article, "Congress Should End Federal Funding to Planned Parenthood and Redirect It Toward Other Health Care Options", she talks about recent videos that suggest that Planned Parenthood affiliates are harvesting and selling the body parts of aborted unborn children. These videos then led to the government defunding Planned Parenthood. She also says that Planned Parenthood has decreased preventive care, while increasing abortions. The issue of women having no form of healthcare is fixed because women have other options available without entanglement in abortion. "There are about 1,200 federally qualified health centers across the country that operate over 9,000 service sites in medically underserved areas, providing family planning services, cancer screenings, and women's health exams" (Torre). Torre is credible because she is a Policy Analyst in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation. She is bias towards the defunding of Planned Parenthood because she presents points that go against Planned Parenthood.

The issue of defunding Planned Parenthood is arguable because people have different morals and beliefs. I disagree with the fact that Planned Parenthood has decreased preventive care and increased abortions. I agree that Christie's argument fell flat because he was not knowledgeable on what Planned Parenthood actually does. It was difficult to find articles that supported the defunding of Planned Parenthood because they were not credible sources.; most of the sources were from religious sites. It definitely made me support the funding of Planned Parenthood even more. In order to address my issue in 2,500 words, I will have to add more statistics and direct quotes. 

