Planned Parenthood

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'''Planned Parenthood Federation of America''' (part of the International Planned Parenthood Federation) is an American [[non-profit]] organization, established in 1921 by Margaret Sanger to help women avoid unwanted/unplanned [[pregnancy|pregnancies]].  In their own words, their goal is :
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'''Planned Parenthood Federation of America''' (part of the International Planned Parenthood Federation) is an American [[Non-profit organization|non-profit]] organization, established in 1921 by Margaret Sanger to help women avoid unwanted/unplanned [[pregnancy|pregnancies]].  In their own words, their goal is :
  
 
{{cquote|Planned Parenthood believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual's income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence. }}
 
{{cquote|Planned Parenthood believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual's income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence. }}

Revision as of 16:56, 26 September 2011

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Abortion

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Medically approved
In the back alley

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (part of the International Planned Parenthood Federation) is an American non-profit organization, established in 1921 by Margaret Sanger to help women avoid unwanted/unplanned pregnancies. In their own words, their goal is :

Planned Parenthood believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual's income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence.

Planned Parenthood obviously offers assistance with reproductive health, specifically birth control, but because of its relationship with the women and men seeking reproductive health, they also offer a range of services including STD/STI screenings and pap smears,[1] breast exams and other screenings that can catch cancer, fibrosis, or other major health concerns early on.

Planned Parenthood is often the only health care poor women receive, and the free or low cost exam is a moment to see a doctor and get basic tests that might indicate the need for more comprehensive care outside of the gynecological field.

Planned Parenthood has also provided basic "well care", "first aid" and "ongoing management" of such things as high blood pressure, diabetes suger tests, and elder checkups in towns that have been struck by a disaster, such as New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Contents

The Conspiracy View™

  • Planned Parenthood was started by Margaret Sanger, who was a proponent of eugenics. Therefore, Planned Parenthood is a scheme to implement eugenics.[2] The reality is that eugenics advocates differed wildly in their philosophy and approach to the implementation of eugenic policy. Anti-abortionist propaganda typically attempts to associate Sanger with Hitler, generally claiming that she inspired Nazi eugenics plans or false allegations that she had ties to Ernst Rudin, one of the originators of "racial hygiene" policies in Nazi Germany. In fact, Sanger was opposed to forced sterilization and spoke against the Nazi eugenics programs. In addition, many eugenicists opposed her because they believed birth control would decrease birth rates among the upper class and so reduce the "better stocks" of society.[3] The other reality is that just because a company is founded by one person, 100 some odd years ago, does not mean those are the policies in place today. A final reality is that Sanger's first goal was to let poor women choose how to reproduce, to try to take control of their lives, and in that way have more money, more time, more energy for the things like a better job or education that can improve their lives.
  • Planned Parenthood is racist. See Abortion as black genocide.
  • Planned Parenthood is only about abortion. Planned Parenthood offers a large range of services that have nothing to do with birth control much less abortion. And their primary goal is to prevent pregnancy, not terminate it. If termination were their goal, they would not push the Birth Control issue quite so hard. The current president, Cecile Richard's own words " "Planned Parenthood does more to prevent unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion than any organization in America." [4]
  • Planned Parenthood pushes abortion. Well, no. Planned Parenthood offers abortions in 45 states. However, when they talk to a person who is pregnant[5] they try to find out where the mother is at in her life, what her morals, emotions, and religious views are, what her personal needs are financially and work with her from there to determine the best path for her. This includes frank and open discussions about abortion as well as the repercussions of giving birth and of adoption. Little is sugarcoated about any choice.

Political attacks on Planned Parenthood

The election of rabid anti-choice "tea bagger" types in 2010 has pushed an anti-abortion, anti-woman agenda into the forefront of American Politics.

  • February 2, 2011 the US House of Representatives voted along party lines to defund Planned Parenthood.
  • The US House of Representatives pushed Obama to accept denial of any money to Planned Parenthood Clinics if he wanted his "health care reform".[6]

Some real statistics

  • 1 in 5 women will receive care from Planned Parenthood at some point in her lifetime.[7]
  • 90% of women's services at Planned Parenthood is for preventative care.
  • Planned Parenthood offers birth control at up to 50% of the rate charged by pharmacies without insurance. [8]
  • 35% of their total services goes into contraception. 34% was for STD/STI screening and treatment. Cancer testing (pap smears and breast exams) constituted 17% of their services. Abortion amounted to just under 3% of their total services.[9]
  • No federal funds can be used for abortion. Period. So any money that Planned Parenthood gets from the feds goes into the preventative care, STD/STI screening and treatment, and education.
  • Nearly 1/2 of the pregnancies in the US are unplanned. Some end in abortion (40%), many end up in homes where the child is a serious financial burden to the family or in too many cases single mothers, some are born addicted to drugs or alcohol, and almost none end up in the Right Wing, "right to life's" fantasy of a happily-ever-after home with two parents and happy children.
  • The CDC has seen a drastic increase in the number of illegal, "back alley" abortions done not because the women cannot find legal abortion services, but because they cannot afford them. Planned Parenthood, with its sliding scale and its connections to various private doners made and makes abortion services affordable for those who truly cannot afford it.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Also available at your local Walgreen's
  2. In doing this research, I found a "yahoo question/answer" by a typical pro-life person who said "planned parenthood and all abortions are 'eugenics by choice. I didn't know you could do eugenics on your own body.
  3. For further context on Sanger, see:
    *The Sanger-Hitler Equation, Margaret Sanger Papers Project, New York University
    *Paul A. Lombardo. Disability, Eugenics, and the Culture War. Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law and Policy.
  4. Democracy Now "War On Women", [1].
  5. the source for this is personal experience
  6. http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/08/opinion-the-houses-dangerous-attack-on-planned-parenthood
  7. http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/08/opinion-the-houses-dangerous-attack-on-planned-parenthood
  8. Luckily, the new health care plan by the US Government mandates that insurances cover birth control for free or 5 bucks per person.
  9. Planned Parenthood Public Funding Report, 2009
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