Women and men filled Sewanee’s very own Women’s Center on November 5th, all eager to hear from a representative of the “infamous” Planned Parenthood. Tennessee’s senior field manager, Francie Hunt, joined Sewanee for a Pinnacle Luncheon, ready to discuss the climate of reproductive health and freedom within our region. Planned Parenthood is an organization many only recognize from videos splattered across Facebook, videos proclaiming “baby-killers” and focusing only on one aspect of an organization that administers multiple services to 1 in 5 American women. Regardless of your view on abortion, regardless if you are pro-choice or pro-life, one of the most important things that needs to be recognized about Planned Parenthood is the multitude of services they provide, including access to birth control, STI testing and treatment, pregnancy tests, annual exam and PAP smears, cancer screening, HIV testing, breast exams, emergency contraception, vaccines, and condoms. They also administer counseling services as well as outreach and education programs. In a set of 2014 statistics, Planned Parenthood reported that 79% of their healthcare patients live “with incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.” Planned Parenthood’s central belief that all individuals have the fundamental right to choose if and when they have a family, regardless of sexual orientation, race, or socioeconomic status results in affordable care that is vital to low-income families.
However, even with the amount of essential services offered, there is still an active movement to defund the organization, and with that, take away inexpensive sexual health services to women and men who don’t have health insurance but are still in need of care. Francie Hunt addressed this most recent surge to defund Planned Parenthood, describing the multiple smear campaigns from extremist groups. She clarified that, “In Tennessee, we do not receive Title 10 dollars or a check from the government. And just to be clear: Planned Parenthood does not sell baby parts.” She described the multiple extremist smear campaigns as “a power grab” and “a concerted effort to defund and close our doors.” An effort, she reminded, that primarily hurts low-income families.
In response, Planned Parenthood is working at both a political and grassroots level. They have contacted members of Congress over 100,000 times, more than 400 allied organizations have signed on in support, and a petition stands with over 2.5 million signatures to #StandWithPP. There will be a reproductive action forum on January 23, as well as the current development of a Planned Parenthood story bank that gives voice to the women who have experienced Planned Parenthood and the services they provide. Locally, Hunt emphasized the importance of “boots on the ground,” and she praised the ever-growing state-wide feminist base. “For Tennessee, the best way to make an impact is by electing the right people.” And that means our generation getting out and voting, it means not only saying we believe in women’s reproductive rights, but actively using our vote to enforce what we believe is important.
“We’re really bracing ourselves,” Hurt stated as she concluded her discussion. As we should be, because without awareness, without activism, without voting, women are one step closer to being denied agency over their own bodies. Planned Parenthood is not just about abortion, it’s about sexual health education, cancer screenings, and STI treatment. It’s about giving individuals the power to take control of their health and their lives, a power everyone deserves, and a power that should not be awarded based on the ability to afford it. So stand with reproductive rights, #StandWithPP, and YSR.