Earlier this year, House Republicans voted to stop funding planned parenthood. They want to completely cut off the federal financing for the organization because they believe that Planned Parenthood is making profits off of selling aborted babies for medical research. The Republicans believe that the organization is morally corrupt. I am interested in this research question because Planned Parenthood does so much for women and men around the nation, much more than just abortions. I believe that the government should continue funding Planned Parenthood because 97% of their services are non-abortion services and helping the general public, everyone deserves the right to a proper healthcare, and the organization has saved people internationally by providing health services to those in need around the world.

This topic is important to me personally because not only do I think that everyone deserves to have the freedom of making their own choices regarding abortion, I also believe that the organization helps people in ways that some doctors and other organizations cannot by offering treatments of sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy testing, cancer screening, and prenatal services. When I am older and want to start a family I want to have the option of seeking help through this organization or an organization similar to this with profitable health care.

Planned Parenthood as a whole is widely known as a place where you can get abortions. However, there are many other organizations that carry out abortions that do not get the blame like this organization. It is truly not fair that their reputation is based on false facts considering that it is proven that only 3% of the organizations services are abortion services, 38% are testing and treatment for STD's, 33.5% are for contraception, 14.5% are cancer screening and prevention, and 10.4% are other women's health services (Lowen). Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is just one of the Republican government officials who told false information about the organization and gave them a worse reputation than they deserved. He made a comment stating that over 90% of Planned Parenthood services are abortion services, which is just about the farthest thing from the actual 3% that does to abortion services (Lowen). 

On the Susan B. Anthony List website, she states as of 2013 abortions made up 94% of Planned Parenthood's pregnancy services, while the Planned Parenthood stated the true facts of being only 3% (Hee Lee). There is always two sides to every argument, but in this case it is obvious that people who support abortion, or are not completely against it, believe that Planned Parenthood is a helpful organization that does not spend all there time doing abortions, and believe that their statistics are true. On the other hand, people who do not support abortion tend to believe the worst out of this organization and many others that have anything to do with the subject. When they hear the words "Planned Parenthood," it is an automatic response to think of the cruelty of abortion, murdering babies, and everything else they think regarding the procedure. I think that less politics needs to go into the simple concept of public health and well-being. Citizens of the United States deserve to have the proper health care they need to stay healthy for the rest of their lives. Planned Parenthood is an organization that does their best to help people who are less fortunate than others, or just people in general. They provide services that ensure that one day we will have a healthy generation coming upon us. We tend to forget that we all grow old and that new and younger generations will soon become the new adults and the new government officials, so why would we not want them to be as healthy and smart as possible? 

Last summer, there was a video uploaded onto the internet of one of the head of Planned Parenthood's medical staff apparently admitting to using aborted fetuses body parts and selling them (Ertelt). There has been no proof that the organization is guilty of this, hense why no criminal charges against them have actually gone through. I think that it is extremely cruel to falsely blame an organization of such a horrible crime without proper evidence. If there was real evidence that this was true, I highly doubt that it would be hard to find considering that selling aborted baby parts would be very hard to hide from the government. 

It is understandable from my point of view that everyone has the right to their own opinion, and obviously abortion is a topic that many people have extremely strong opinions about. However, I do not think that it is fair to make such false accusations about an organization that spends so much of their time helping people in need of doctors' assistance that may not have the proper health care to go somewhere else. Planned Parenthood provides an abundance of services helping soon-to-be mothers make sure that their babies are safe and healthy which leads me to question how some people can look so lowly upon them. Yes, the organization does provide abortion services but in my opinion there are some circumstances that make it very understandable why a woman may need to get an abortion such as being a victim to rape, being too young, risking their health to carry out a pregnancy, or not having the money and resources to support a baby. 

In September 2015, only a few months ago, House Republicans voted to block all federal financing for Planned Parenthood by accusing them of illegally selling aborted fetuses and making money off of it(Crowley). Personally, I think that these government officials had a very wrong image of Planned Parenthood as an organization as a whole. They are focused so much on the abortion aspect that they are forgetting about all the other services the organization has to offer for the public, considering their name is 'Planned Parenthood' it is obvious that they have a lot of resources for actually raising children. Blocking the federal funding for this organization would leave so many innocent people without proper healthcare considering how expensive it is now-a-days to actually have it. Planned Parenthood provides people that may not be fortunate enough to obtain healthcare with the care that they need to keep themselves healthy. 

As a college student, I am well aware that Sexually Transmitted Diseases are defiantly a widely known problem. Planned Parenthood provides STD screening for cheap prices unlike some other organizations where screening takes place. I would like the community of college students and young adults to have access to these screenings so they do not spread diseases or obtain a disease without even realizing it. I think that government officials would agree that their needs to be options for young adults to be safe, and Planned Parenthood provides this safety.

According to the CDC, as of 2015, sexually transmitted diseases were on the rise (CDC). The three STD's on the rise were chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. This is the first time in almost ten years that these three diseases have increased. There was about 1.5 million cases reported of chlamydia, which is up 2.8 percent since 2013, only three years ago. Approximately 350,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported in 2014 and 20,000 cases of syphilis were reported (CDC). It is very obvious that young people around the United States and around the world need to have access to a safe place where treatments are available and affordable. Most universities around the country provide free STD screening for the students whom attend the university, but some students may be shy about going to their student health center. Peoples health lives can be very private and some people may fear running into other classmates at a student health center since it is in the middle of campus. Planned Parenthood provides all of these services and could make some students more comfortable about getting tested without the worry of the increased chance seeing people they know at the student health center. It is not the governments right to take away this access to these resources that are so important for so many citizens around the country, and by cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood would do this and cause harm to the public.

Not only does Planned Parenthood provide services all over the United States, they also provide services all over the world. For over four decades, this organization has worked internationally in some of the world's poorest areas to help locals have access to the proper health care they deserve (Planned Parenthood Global). In developing countries around the world, women and young girls who do not want to get pregnant still do not have access to proper birth control. Also, pregnancy is the leading cause of death for teen girls around the world, killing seventy thousand girls annually because of pregnancy complications (Planned Parenthood Global). This is absolutely shocking to me because in the United States we are so fortunate to have access to such amazing hospitals, doctors, and organizations like Planned Parenthood to ensure pregnant women and their babies the proper care and safety that they need. The fact that this organization travels to countries all over the world helping those in need really does show that their number one priority is to provide resources to the public to ensure their heath and safety.

In November 2015, Robert Lewis Dear killed three people after starting a shooting in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado (Vercammen). He argued that it was his duty to do this and that he was a "warrior for the babies" (Vercammen). This man had such a strong opinion about abortions and Planned Parenthood as an organization that he believed killing three innocent people and leaving an entire shopping center and community in hysterics was the right thing to do. Yes, this man was obviously mentally insane, but it does show you how extreme some peoples opinions are on the subject of abortion an Planned Parenthood. This is one of the reasons why I think that people need to stop thinking about Planned Parenthood when they think of abortions, considering that only 3% of their services have to do with abortion. After this deadly attack, Planned Parenthood decided to reopen the clinic, continuing to help people of the community despite the tragedy that had occurred there so recently (Turkewitz). This really does show how so many women and health care providers are victims to peoples opinions and judgments that make them do insane things. 

Northern Ireland is home to some of the strictest abortion laws in the world (Milligan). Until this past December, only two months ago, abortion in this area was illegal for any woman unless their life was being threatened by being impregnated. The laws were that no women were allowed to get abortions under any circumstances of any sort.  If someone went against these laws and carried out the procedure, they could face up to life in jail. Now, a judge made new requirements about women getting abortions. The new laws state that a woman can get an abortion if they were raped or if having a baby would endanger the mother's health (Kelly). The laws before these new ones were very ridiculous to me, going to jail because you were not ready for a baby, you were raped, or you were having a dangerous pregnancy, seems insanely strict to me. However, it does makes sense because Northern Ireland is one of the most catholic places around the world, having much more debatable issues that just the issue of abortion. This influences the abortion laws in the United States and the what seems to be never ending debate about whether or not abortion should be legal. 

The Democrats believe that the government should not stop funding Planned Parenthood because of all of the health care services that they offer, and of course being pro-choice when it comes to the topic of abortion. The issue of abortion in the entire United States is a very heated debate and topic to talk about, with so many different opinions about whether it should be legal or whether it should be illegal. However, my topic is not about the abortion aspect of Planned Parenthood, considering that 97% of their services are to help soon to be mothers, kids, and even men obtain the proper health care that they deserve, even if they cannot pay for it. When I grow up and my parents no longer pay for my health care, I want to have the ability and options of going to Planned Parenthood to keep my family and I healthy even if I cannot afford to have my own healthcare. This organization makes that possible for so many people in need, and I think that it is very important for people to realize how much Planned Parenthood does for people all over the country, and really put less emphasis on the abortion aspect of the organization.

I believe that the government should continue funding Planned Parenthood because 97% of their services are non-abortion services and helping the general public, everyone deserves the right to a proper healthcare, and the organization has saved people internationally by providing health services to those in need. Yes, you can schedule to abort your baby at a Planned Parenthood clinic, but only 3% of anything they do is abortion services which is why people need to stop thinking about the issue of abortion every time the organization is brought up. There needs to be a change in the United States when it comes to Planned Parenthood and health care in general. Everyone deserves to have access to resources that give them a healthy life and there needs to be a change in the way that some people view Planned Parenthood as an organization. 

