*This article does not represent the views of Her Campus FSU
Recently, the news has been splattered with different stories about Planned Parenthood: the “controversial” videos, rumors of possible revoked federal funding and speculation about exactly how that federal funding is allocated. Last Friday, the House of Representatives put some of these rumors to rest, voting 241 to 187 to strip Planned Parenthood of its 500 million dollars of annual federal funding for a year. This all comes after a disputed video was secretly filmed, then edited and released by a prominent anti-abortion group called the Center for Medical Progress.
What most people don’t realize is that the bill, which would bar Planned Parenthood of its federal funding, is mashed into the same bill that also details where all federal funding goes. This bill sets the monetary agenda for our government and thus must have a deadline or else we’d have another government shutdown (remember that sh*t show in 2011?). This Thursday, the Senate, which has a Democratic majority, filibustered this bill by voting 52 to 47 when the bill needed 60 votes to advance. The Senate also demanded that provisions be made to reinstate Planned Parenthood’s funding before approving the bill by the October 1st deadline.
This is huge. Our government is willing to face another shutdown because of the raging debate over Planned Parenthood, and more accurately, women’s healthcare in the United States. So what sparked all this—talks of government shutdowns, contempt for Planned Parenthood, a community center which helps women? The answer is simple: one video, (mentioned previously; the link you can be found at the bottom of this article). This video reveals a private conversation between a doctor and an unknown person about donating fetal tissue for medical research. Donated fetal tissue is beneficial in helping scientists understand the nature of certain diseases and cancer that affect newborns, and is completely legal. There is a cost associated with donating fetal tissue, as shown in the video. The doctor states on camera that it’s anywhere between “30 to 100 [per specimen], depending on the facility and what’s involved.” Donating fetal tissue has inherent costs associated with it, like transporting the tissue to a medical research center carefully and responsibly.
However, the anti-abortion group who released the video, Center for Medical Progress, edited the video so that it looked like the Planned Parenthood doctor was talking about the costs associated with selling fetal tissue of aborted babies, instead of the costs associated with donating fetal tissue for research purposes. In the unedited version of the video, you can clearly see the Planned Parenthood doctor go on to further explain that the figure represents the costs associated with transporting fetal tissue, and indeed clarifies for anyone who watches the unedited version that Planned Parenthood is NOT selling fetal tissue of aborted babies illegally, which we can all agree would be horrific, if it were true. Never the less, the state launched a full-scale investigation on Planned Parenthood and found that they were completely innocent of any allegations.
Courtesy: Daily Morning News
So why all this controversy and debate over a video which was clearly doctrined to support the Center for Medical Progress’s anti-abortion stance? This is the question I’ve been asking myself since this whole debacle has happened. The confusion surrounding the Planned Parenthood videos has become not only a vehicle to attack a woman’s choice and autonomy over her own body, but a full-scale attack on women’s healthcare all together. Planned Parenthood is a center for women’s health, which provides a wide variety of services ranging from preventative health screenings, STD testing, free birth control and condoms and yes, abortions. But here’s the deal: the 500 million dollars of annual federal funding that conservatives in The House want to strip Planned Parenthood of, for no apparent reason other than a personal problem with women’s health services and personal biases, is not allowed to fund any abortion services at Planned Parenthood. That’s right – abortions are NOT federally funded, but privately funded at Planned Parenthood. According to the Hyde Amendment, it is illegal for certain federal funds to be used to provide abortion services except in cases of incest, rape, or to save the life of the mother.
Courtesy: The Daily Kos
Planned Parenthood is extremely important because it provides low cost or free services to women and young girls who do not have ready access to the health care services they need. 41% of Planned Parenthood’s services are STI/STD Testing & Treatments, 12% Cancer Screening and Prevention, 11% Other Women’s Health Services, 32% Contraceptives, 1% other services, and 3% abortions services. Planned Parenthood provides abortion services to women and young girls who otherwise might not be able to afford an abortion at a different clinic.
The Republican Party’s attempt to block Planned Parenthood comes at a time when a women’s body and personal autonomy seems to be constantly under attack. Relying on their personal ideologies and “pro-life” stances has encouraged Republicans to attack Planned Parenthood. However, considering that only 3% of the services provided at Planned Parenthood are abortion services, which are not federally funded, and the rest revolve around women’s health and preventing unwanted pregnancies, doesn’t it seem more reasonable to fund Planned Parenthood if you really want to reduce the amount of abortions happening per year? Cutting off Planned Parenthood’s funding would be a disaster for women everywhere, especially those in low-income families. The government’s attack on Planned Parenthood is an attack on women’s health care, and autonomy over their own bodies.
It’s important that as a nation we understand the facts and don’t just choose to accept the news that reinforces our own ideologies. The women who will suffer from the defunding of Planned Parenthood are the same women who, prior to 1973 when Roe V. Wade was passed, died trying to claim autonomy over their own bodies in dirty motel room beds with men who claimed to be doctors, and the women who can’t afford cancer screenings today.
Sources: CNN, Texas Daily Morning News, HydeAmendment.gov, MotherJones.com.