There’s not just one but TWO bills–one in the House and one in the Senate–that are trying to make Planned Parenthood health centers a distant memory. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and over 80 GOP House members are leading the effort to attack Planned Parenthood’s biggest source of funding under the guise of anti-choice politics. These bills attack all federally funded women’s healthcare providers that offer abortion as an option–but what they don’t mention is that federal law already prohibits any federal funds from being used for abortion.2 It’s a sham.
This ruthless effort is not about taking down “the big abortion industry.” What it really does is diminish women’s access to quality healthcare:
- One in five women in the U.S. has visited a Planned Parenthood health center at least once in her life–often a last line of defense for women in low-income communities who can’t afford to see a private doctor.3
- Abortion only makes up about 3% of the extensive services offered by Planned Parenthood.4 By taking away these vital resources, women would lose access to simple services like birth control, yearly check-ups, STD testing, and prenatal care.
- And family planning providers like Planned Parenthood actually prevent more than 406,000 abortions each year.5
This attack by Congress is dangerous for communities like Ellis County in Kansas, where the local Planned Parenthood was forced to close after they were stripped of their federal funding.6 The health center provided birth control services to over 9,000 women and over 8,000 STD tests–now Ellis County is left without a single public family planning provider. And if the GOP conservatives in Congress have their way, women across the country will suffer the same fate.
But we can win this. Polls show that a majority of Americans think the government needs to stay out of women’s personal decisions.7 Despite the GOP’s Congress takeover, together we can take a stand against these outrageous attacks and send a message that the people won’t back down when it comes to women’s rights.
Tell Congress: Stop the attacks against women’s health! Don’t defund Planned Parenthood.
Thanks for speaking out.
–Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Adam, Gabriela, Holly, Kaili, Kathy, Onyi, Susan, Clarise, Anathea, Audine, and Megan, the UltraViolet team
Sources:
1. GOP renews funding fight against Planned Parenthood, The Hill, January 8, 2015
Title X Family-Planning Services: Fast Facts, NARAL Pro-Choice America, January 1, 2014
2. Ibid.
3. Planned Parenthood At A Glance, Planned Parenthood, retrieved January 8, 2015
4. Title X Family-Planning Services: Fast Facts, NARAL Pro-Choice America, January 1, 2014
5. Ibid
6. Family Planning Clinic Forced to Close After Kansas Defunds Planned Parenthood, ThinkProgress, May 23, 2014
7. NARAL Pro-Choice America National Survey, NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 9-12, 2014
