A child’s heart starts beating after only eighteen days of fertilization and brainwaves are present after just six weeks. Around the world, about 125,000 abortions occur per day. The different types of abortion include surgical procedures, medical pills, as well as partial birth abortion which is now illegal. Serrin Foster, a pro-life feminist, wrote, “We mourn the loss of 57 million American children that we will never meet. We will never know what they might have contributed to this world. But we must also remember the hundreds of women and teens who have lost their lives to legal but lethal abortion because they did not want to inconvenience us with their pregnancies” (Foster). Instead of citizen’s tax money going towards abortions, the government should make more of an effort to help the healthcare needs of struggling women. Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the world, should be defunded because they too heavily rely on abortion as the only choice for women. That is exactly what Donald Trump is trying to do.
This past November, Donald J. Trump was elected as the President of the United States. Until 2011, when he announced he opposed abortion rights, Trump had actually supported legal measures allowing abortions. However, at a debate hosted by CNN in the months prior to his election, Trump stated he would want to defund Planned Parenthood because he is pro-life, but he did admit millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood. He extended this thought by saying, “I am pro-life and I am deeply committed to investing in women’s health and plan to significantly increase federal funding in support of nonabortion services such as cancer screenings. Polling shows the majority of Americans oppose public funding for abortion, even those who identify as pro-choice. There is an opportunity for organizations to continue the important work they do in support of women’s health, while not providing abortion services” (Haberman).
That is in fact true, the clinic does offer services other than abortion that are beneficial to all women and men as well. These services include low-cost birth control pills, sexually-transmitted disease testing, vaccines, screenings, physical exams, health insurance, and more gynecological related services. These amenities assist low-income individuals to get necessary tests, check-ups and insurance to those who cannot afford it. Planned Parenthood’s leaders try to inform its followers in the areas of health, sex, and family-planning. Planned Parenthood provides educational programs and outreach to 1.5 million young people and adults every year. On campuses and online, in statehouses and courts, in community settings, and in the media, Planned Parenthood is a visible advocate for policies that enable Americans to access reproductive and sexual health care, education, and information.
However, instead of funding Planned Parenthood, taxpayers’ money can go towards women’s clinics who offer services other than the termination of an unborn child. Americans have stated for quite some time that they do not want their taxes going towards federal funds being spent on abortions as the President also stated (DeBonis). Overtime, women’s clinics will grow larger and more abundant in quantity to offer amenities to a greater population. Funding should go towards helping women who have conceived during rape and welcoming children conceived in violence. With more government money, other clinics that do not offer abortion can make a bigger difference and help more women, men, and teens than Planned Parenthood has.
The White House, concerned with the possible political repercussions of the Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood, has proposed preserving federal payments to the group if it discontinues providing abortions. The proposal, which has not yet been made formally, has been rejected as an impossibility by officials at Planned Parenthood. The executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, Dawn Laguens countered back saying the company would never accept a deal that results in the abandonment of their patients and values. She went on to say that providing critical health care services for millions of American women is nonnegotiable. However, Congressional Republicans have said they will soon move legislation to strip all federal funds from Planned Parenthood. Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which supports anti-abortion candidates, said Mr. Trump was living up to his campaign promise. “We’re not used to that in politics,” she said. She added that she had no problem with the deal because her issue with Planned Parenthood is with its abortion work as well.
The popular women’s clinic is purposely lying to their customers, manipulating them into abortion to make more of a profit. The very truth about Planned Parenthood is that they lie to their customers. Lisa Shaw wrote about Abby Johnson, a former director of Planned Parenthood and how she believed abortion was the solution to her problem, as she was going through a divorce. She went with medication pills, what she thought was the more “natural” option. She was told that she would not experience any symptoms worse than a heavy menstrual cycle, although that night was somewhat different. According to Shaw, Johnson stated, “I started to feel pain in my abdomen unlike anything I had ever experienced.” Blood was pouring out of her and she had to sit in her bath tub for a good twelve hours. She expected this to not be normal and decided to call Planned Parenthood the following morning. She was told that her symptoms were normal and she would continue to experience them for eight weeks. After returning to work, she asked why women were not made aware of the unbearable symptoms. Shaw wrote that Johnson’s supervisor replied, “Well, we don’t want to scare them.” It was written that Johnson came out a short while later and announced, “Here’s the truth… Planned Parenthood is not worried about women being ‘scared.’… Planned Parenthood is scared. They are scared women will walk out the door if they get accurate and thorough information. Every woman that walks out is lost revenue… That is Planned Parenthoods biggest fear” (Shaw). Planned Parenthood, as a business company, has a duty to their customers to make sure they are informed of what their results will be from their actions taken at the clinic. Being given inaccurate, false information proves the clinic to be unprofessional, just another reason to follow through with the defunding.
Professionals, no matter what their field, should consider the harmful effects of abortion on women, physically and emotionally. Planned Parenthood lures young girls in, assuring them abortion is the most responsible decision. Women lay their bodies down or swallow a bitter pill called “choice” driven to abortion because of a lack of resources and support. Gianna Jessen’s biological mother was 17 years old and seven and a half months pregnant when Planned Parenthood counseled her to abort Gianna through saline instillation (Shaw). This method involves the injection of a saline solution into the amniotic sac, where the baby swallows it. The baby suffers from immense pain as the result of being poisoned and burned for 12-48 hours. In Gianna’s case, after 18 hours in the solution, she was born alive. Gianna was transferred to the hospital and thrived throughout her life even though it included foster care and cerebral palsy because of the botched procedure (Shaw). Gianna goes around spreading her pro-life message along with the realities of abortion and the truth about Planned Parenthood (Shaw). The clinics affiliates push abortion as the best option without thinking twice, to get one customer in and out and then deal with the next.