Six heavily-doctored videos released by the Center For Medical Progress have become a new clip of rounds for the assault rifle conservatives have been using to attack Planned Parenthood. These videos have had a remarkable effect on perceptions toward the healthcare institution and have influenced a variety of recent talking points.
Some have begun to question their pro-choice allegiance, some have added more falsehoods atop the ones already created by the Center For Medical Progress, several governors are working to “defund” the institution within their states, and there has even been talk of a possible government shutdown over the issue.
Heads up, Barnes & Noble! Sen. Cruz is coming for your Dr. Seuss inventory.
While attacks on Planned Parenthood have been a common occurrence throughout their entire existence, that doesn’t mean that they are necessary or appropriate. At the end of the day, women’s healthcare is not a pasture for ideological bullshit to ferment in the sun.
While I agree that trying to show unilateral health benefit for abortive services is essentially trying to climb Everest in the middle of a snowstorm, we have to understand that abortions only account for about 3% of what Planned Parenthood does.
In Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report, the women’s healthcare service covers procedures performed by clinics around the country, providing a breakdown of healthcare services rendered. In addition to 327,653 abortions performed from July 2013 — June 2014:
- Sexually-transmitted diseases/infections testing and treatment: 4,470,597
- Contraception: 3,577,348
- Cancer screening and prevention: 935,573
- Pregnancy tests: 1,128,783
- Prenatal services: 18,684
- Family practice services: 65,464
- Adoption referrals: 1,880
- Urinary tract infection treatments: 47,264
- Other: 17,187
On top of that, federal funding does not cover abortion services, only the other aspects of healthcare Planned Parenthood provides.
The banter in opposition to Planned Parenthood rarely covers the bulk of what Planned Parenthood actually does. Conservative mouth-breathers almost never enter the healthcare services Planned Parenthood renders into the fray, instead focusing on a single service the institution provides to women who decide not to carry a fetus to term.
That’s all this is about — abortion.
There are people willing to jeopardize a slew of healthcare services that affect millions of people because of an elective procedure the government doesn’t even fund. In their willingness to do so, they have strengthened a cult of misinformation, morphing the term “abortion” into a toxic manifestation of pure, unadulterated evil.
This whole fiasco is about as dumb as we can possibly achieve.
Planned Parenthood isn’t on trial here, even though Planned Parenthood is the entity tied to the stake while fire begins to burn at its feet. No, women’s access to healthcare is on trial. Low-income access to healthcare is on trial. And all of these idiots recycling conservative rhetoric like they have Ceti eel larvae in their ears are hunting witches.
Look, I get it. There are people who find the existence of Planned Parenthood to be an affront to their values. For some, their animosity is focused on abortion services. For others, their hostility toward the organization may actually exist in response to healthcare services Planned Parenthood renders, such as contraception, even though this point rarely comes up compared to abortion topics.
It’s perfectly acceptable to feel that way. If someone hates abortions, then they hate abortions. If someone hates contraceptive services, then they hate contraceptive services. Their feelings on the matter are their feelings on the matter and that’s fine. They can have those feelings. However, when they start actively working to impose those feelings on the mass public, especially when those feelings stem almost solely from misinformation and zealous rhetoric, the line has been crossed and those working to impose their values on society at large become villainous, regardless of their intent.
Values are not unanimous in our society, nor should they be.
Nothing Planned Parenthood does is forced on the public in any way. American taxpayers do not fund abortions. If Jane Doe gets pregnant and resolves that she cannot carry the baby, she has every right to terminate her pregnancy. Just because Jane Doe terminates her pregnancy, doesn’t mean society at large is impacted. Our lives go on.
For all anyone knows, by the time this sentence is read, another abortion may have occurred.
Has your life stopped?
