Local View:
Planned Parenthood worth funding.
Many of our success stories acknowledge people who have impacted us, and not mentioning them leaves our tales incomplete. Often these figures are parents or teachers, mentors or professors, people who taught us something about ourselves or the world around us. “I would not be where I am today were it not for Mrs. Jones,” we say, pondering a reality in which we never crossed paths with these sagacious figures. They enlighten us; they give us power; they educate us.
I would not be where I am today were it not for Planned Parenthood. Like the teachers, parents and mentors who empower us to succeed, its clinics have provided the invaluable asset of education. Sexual education is an essential component to autonomy, particularly for young women. An intimate knowledge of our bodies, how to care for and protect them, and even something that seems as simple as knowing how to say “no” are not inherent; we often feel the need to consult an authority on these matters.
It is vital that young women have the knowledge and the resources to make reproductive decisions and to protect themselves from disease. This is the backbone of gender equality; it saves us from fatalism and enables us to have choices about our careers, to pursue academics, to make a family and to find quality of life.
Recent research shows that Texas, where sex education is limited in schools and Planned Parenthood was defunded in 2011, has an increased incidence of teen pregnancy compared with the rest of the nation. This correlation reveals the void left when sex education is not readily accessible. As Congress prepares to return from recess to continue the ongoing debate over the fate of the Affordable Care Act and the future of health care, lawmakers are faced with the prospect of defunding Planned Parenthood on a national level.
Though much of the public discourse surrounding funding for Planned Parenthood is centered on abortion, the emphasis that its initiatives place on education is often neglected. Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest provider of sex education, dispensing information on pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted disease and cancer screenings, and interpersonal relationships to more than 1.5 million individuals yearly. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding for abortions except in rare cases, leaving tax dollars to be put to work providing information and screenings for those who have no one else to turn to.
I was one of those patients who turned to Planned Parenthood. Its resources taught me about contraceptives and preventative care, which meant retaining power over my body and my future and assuring me the ability to pursue an education, a career and, perhaps one day, a family.
I am confounded and alarmed by the notion of stripping resources away from those who depend on them. Have we truly turned into a society in which wedge-issue politics have become more important than the futures of young women? Denying education means denying power, and defunding Planned Parenthood would do exactly that.