There are moments in life where we can not admit to the ones we love that we need help. Moments where it seems like a better option to walk into a clinic, where no one knows you, and receive the help you need. Moments like that are the reasons Planned Parenthood is a necessity for people.
President Trump announced changes to the funding of Planned Parenthood and abortion-related affairs on Feb. 22, 2019. The new federal gag rule effects how certain Planned Parenthood clinics deal with abortion.
While doctors can still talk about abortion with patients, they cannot tell patients where to get the operation done if they so choose. The funds that are being taken away from Planned Parenthood have the possibility of being redirected to anti-abortion groups.
The change to Planned Parenthood’s funding will not affect outside facilities that perform abortions. However, because of this change, abortions have to happen in a separate facility unrelated to Planned Parenthood, but Planned Parenthood is not allowed to refer their patients to those facilities.
The change in funding disregards the rules set in place from Title X. Title X was established in 1970 as a means to provide affordable birth control and reproductive health care to those who can not afford it.
About 402,000 of the 9.7 million services provided by Planned Parenthood were induced abortions, according to the official Planned Parenthood 2017-2018 annual report.
Of the 107 Planned Parenthood offices in California, there are more than 15 Planned Parenthood offices in the Bay Area alone, including in Hayward and San Ramon, as noted in the annual report.
Jo Ann Conrad, an Anthropology Professor at Cal State East Bay, sees the defunding as a political ploy for those against abortion.
“So those who are clamoring to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding are putatively doing this because they are anti-abortion, and their claim is that Planned Parenthood does a lot of abortions, and profits from it, and encourages it, and they do not support the federal government funding it,” says Conrad. “But their claims are so off base. PP does much more than abortions, which in fact make up a small percentage of what they do.”
Conrad understands that the funding of Planned Parenthood goes further than to simply provide abortions. Other services include STD testing, providing contraceptives, and emotional support.
“They provided needed services mostly for underserved communities … services like STD testing, and all sorts of educational programs. And, no federal funding ever goes to the abortions.”
Planned Parenthood provides countless people with the support and knowledge they require to stay safe. However, without the funding, they will not be able to do that anymore.