Planned Parenthood Vote

The House of Representatives passed the Pence Amendment Feb. 18, which cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood of America, last week.
 
Planned Parenthood currently receives funding from the Title X Federal Family Planning Program, which was established in 1970 and provides reproductive health care for millions of Americans, including cancer screenings and birth control.
 

In a speech at the 2011 March for Life, Rep. Mike Pence (R, Ind.) described the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision as the worst since the Dred Scott decision of 1857, which declared that the Constitution does not protect people of African descent, and the descendants of African slaves could not become citizens of the United States.
 
“As most Americans know, it is simply morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion.” Pence said. “But it is also morally wrong to take the taxpayer dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to promote abortion at home or abroad.”
 
Pence’s statement opens a Pandora’s box of discussion about where our tax dollars go. Whether the government’s use of tax dollars for Title X Programs is a moral issue or not, the fact remains that  Title X programs currently save the federal government $3.74 for every tax dollar that is used in the programs by providing preventive reproductive health services. Further, by taking Medicaid, Planned Parenthood provides health care services to those who may not be able to afford it otherwise.
 
“The amendment to prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding does nothing to reduce the deficit and it does nothing to improve the economy,” said Peter Durkin, CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, in a statement to the press. “In fact, health care professionals will actually lose their jobs as a result, and, most egregiously, it takes health care away from American women who cannot afford to pay for it on their own.”
 
The elimination of Planned Parenthood would have a devastating effect for millions of Americans across the country that rely on the organization’s services, according to Julie Mickelberry, the public affairs director for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.
 
In addition to abortions, Planned Parenthood provides a variety of health care services for more than 3 million women around the country, including annual exams for breast and cervical cancer and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. According to Mickelberry, the Planned Parenthood health centers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans provide these services for approximately 8,500 people every year. Mickelberry added that in light of the other services Planned Parenthood provides it is interesting that people who oppose abortion would also appose family planning that would help prevent the need for it.“I anticipate that if this policy moves forward and Planned Parenthood is not there to share family planning resources, there will be an increase in unintended pregnancies,” Mickelberry said.
 
The problem with Planned Parenthood goes beyond the fact that the organization provides abortions, stated Dominique Monlezun, a Tulane alumnus and rising first-year medical student. Monlezun is also the national coordinator for Medical Students for Life of America, which represents over 500 student pro-life groups. He said that the actions of Planned Parenthood cover up crimes like sex trafficking and statutory rape.
 
“While I commend an organization seeking to provide valid health services to women, Planned Parenthood issued a national mandate in 2010 that all of its clinics are to provide abortions by 2015,” Monlezun said. “This precedes video footage demonstrating clinic officials in multiple states using these abortion services to protect sex traffickers and rapists. These clinic officials are assisting the sex traffickers and rapists by destroying the evidence of sexual assault. Why would taxpayers want to support an organization that supports sex traffickers and rapists?”
 
Despite passionate questions like the ones from Monlezun, Mickelberry still feels differently.
 
“One in five women across the nation have visited planned parenthood for reproductive healthcare services,” Mickelberry said. “It is important for women to have a place that they can trust and rely on for essential reproductive healthcare services… The folks that proposed this initiative have not explained how these women will get the health care they need if this policy becomes a law.”
 
The amendment passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 240-185 and has ignited a grassroots movement to save Planned Parenthood and encourage Senators to vote against the bill. The Senate will vote on the amendment by March 4.
 
 
CONTACT YOUR SENATORS:
If you are registered to vote in Louisiana, regardless of your stance on abortion, contact your Senators to urge them to vote on the Pence Amendment when it reaches the Senate.
If you are not registered to vote in Louisiana, click here.
to find the contact information for your Senator.
 
Senator Mary Landrieu
(202) 224-5824
Web Form: landrieu.senate.gov/about/contact.cfm
Senator David Vitter
(202) 224-4623
Web Form