"The P Word" : A Case for Planned Parenthood

When I was 16, after a long night of social drinking and general debauchery, I vomited in my friend's kitchen sink. As she stroke my back, I repeatedly apologized between heaves of bile, she cooed " It's alright babe, don't worry about it."

The next morning, sans cellphone, I realized that besides the vomiting in the sink my only other memory was making out with some guy in the living room and then moving to my friend's sister's  bedroom.

As is the case with binge drinking, it wasn't what I remembered that frightened me, but instead it was what I didn't remember that seemed truly frightening.

Planned Parenthood Condom

Needless to say, "Thank God for Planned Parenthood." Whom I looked up online later that day, and drove to get my Plan B the day after that. They weren't judgmental, but they were stern that Plan B is not the best option when preventing pregnancy and that regular birth control ( and general consciousness) were the better way to go.

I don't tell this story because I feel the need to relive my fabulous youth, but instead to offer some insight for people who don't understand how important Planned Parenthood is for women.

Last week, the United State House of Representatives voted to cut funding ( $327 million worth) to the Title X program. Title X is federal funding specifically allocated to services related to contraception, cervical cancer screening, sex education, mammograms, HIV testing and diagnosis, and pregnancy testing and counseling. 

The organization that would be hardest hit by the cut would be Planned Parenthood, which receives a third of its funding from the Title X program, and provides nationwide family planning services to women and teenagers.

Courtesy: DCpages.com

"Title X is the only federal program solely dedicated to family planning and preventative health services, particularly for low-income families," according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
 
About 5 million people used services funded by Title X last year. 

It is also important to note that since Title X was created in 1970, it was not and has not been used to provide free abortion services. 


The New Republican spending plan has been slowly slicing away at services to women, adolescent girls, and low-income populations. Their anti-abortion, pro-choice rhetoric has even gone so far as to propose federally funded abortion for victims of rape and incest. Foolishly distinguishing between rape and "rape-rape."

The cuts to the Title X program are apart of an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) apart of the Continuing Resolution (H.R.1) which will help fund the government for the last seven months of the fiscal year. The cuts being made in this amendment will slice $100 billion off President Obama's proposed budget for FY 2011. 


The final decision regarding the future of the the Title X program and the Continuing Resolution is on deadline of March 4. Once all the elements of the resolution are finalized it will move to the Senate for consideration on Feb. 28.

Courtesy: Seattle Walk for Choice

Seattle's Walk for Choice, a nationwide women's rights rally on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 12pm to 3pm will be held on Capitol Hill. Come out and show your support for Planned Parenthood and women's rights along with the rest of the nation.