Please Read This, Especially If You Disagreed With My Last Post

I’m really not very political.  When politics becomes the topic of conversation, I usually don’t have much to offer.  I’ve often joked that even if I wanted to, I could never run for office because of the dirt people would dig up…PTO board is probably the only elected position I’ll ever hold.  But, for some reason, this issue of de-funding Planned Parenthood has struck a nerve with me.  Maybe because I am a woman, maybe because I was once a poor college student who went to Planned Parenthood for birth control pills, maybe because I’m the mother of three girls and I think these decisions will someday affect them.  Who knows, but I’m very concerned about how this is going to play out.  So, I’m going to write one more post about it and then hopefully get back to the nonsense of my everyday life.  I know you’re dying to hear about my girls trip to Marco Island and how Melissa would not leave Bethie and me out of her sight for fear we might get ruffied, or how we didn’t know there were panthers on the loose or what to do if we happened upon one while out walking.  If you’re really lucky and I truly run out of material, I may share the flip video Melissa took of my snoring (I have promised to see an ENT before our next trip).

Anyway, back to more serious matters.  The backlash from my last post wasn’t as bad as I expected.  It actually started a very civil, respectful debate on facebook.  I’m proud of all the women who were involved in that discussion.  Even if you didn’t weigh in, I do hope that the post at least made you think.

Let me again reiterate that I consider myself to be Pro-life.  I agree with so many of you that responded to me that we want to see the end of abortion in our lifetime, that we don’t want to pay for anyone’s abortion.  The point of my post was to simply open up the idea that this measure taken by Congress wasn’t going to accomplish that and maybe we need to consider some other options.  I simply don’t want the Pro-Life movement to hang their hopes on this amendment and celebrate it as a victory when ultimately we will see that it is not the solution we want it to be.

I purposely avoided using a lot of facts and statistics because frankly, it’s pretty much impossible to find anything on the web that isn’t obviously biased…Republican vs Democrat, Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice, etc.  I knew if I quoted one source, someone would find another to directly contradict what I wrote.  However, based on some of the comments and questions I did feel the need to try to dig a little deeper.  After reading quite a few articles today, I’m even more convinced that this is not even a small step in the right direction if the ultimate goal is to end abortion in the United States.  Let me tell you why I believe this to be true.

In actuality, the amendment passed in the House doesn’t simply end federal funding of Planned Parenthood, it cuts federal funding of the Title X program.  The Title X Family Planning Program was signed into law in 1970.  Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing comprehensive family planning and related preventative health services.  The program was designed to provide access to contraceptive services, supplies and information to all who want and need them with priority given to people from low-income families.  In the past 40 years it has grown to include other preventative services such as cancer screenings and Pap smears, as well as STD and HIV testing and treatment for women and men.  In 2010 Title X cost taxpayers about $317 million.  Planned Parenthood received more of that than any other individual organization, but barely over 25%.  Yes, that’s still a lot of money, but not the $317 million that I stated previously went only to Planned Parenthood.  There are Title X clinics all over the country that are run by different organizations, some that provide abortions and some that don’t.  On top of that, it is against the law for Title X funds to be used for abortion.  Again, I understand the argument that if an organization that performs abortions receives federal money, the money helps to keep them in business, I just think that the factors I listed help to point out why this action taken by the House is not the victory so many think it is, and may in fact be bad for women.   I think we can all agree that completely ending the Title X Family Planning Program is a bad idea.   Once the money is taken away from Title X, it could be very difficult to get it back.

There is very little chance this amendment will pass in the Senate.  It is discriminatory to women and the collateral damage that will come from taking away affordable reproductive health services is beyond measure…unplanned pregnancies, untreated STD’s, lack of prenatal care, early detection of cancer.  Title X does not directly pay for abortions, so the government can’t legally take the money away from only clinics that provide abortions when abortion is still perfectly legal in this country.  I really do understand that on the surface, these grand sweeping gestures by government look like we are finally making some progress,  that putting Planned Parenthood out of business is cause for celebration, but I think we’ll see that this act only serves to further divide us, and let’s be honest, as long as abortion is legal and as long as there are women who still feel like it’s their best and only option, they will find a way to pay for it, and a clinic by another name will open it’s doors in Planned Parenthood’s wake and provide that service.

If this isn’t going to help, what will?  I wish I knew.  I know we’ve been fighting the law for 40 years and the victories have been few and far between.  Can we consider that maybe changing the law isn’t where we should focus our energy?  I think the change is going to be slow and steady and it’s going to happen from the bottom up.  We need to keep talking about it in a real and honest way.  We need to keep praying about it.  We need to share our stories and experiences.  Women who have had abortions are probably our most valuable resource right now.  Think about the influence a woman who has had an abortion could have over a scared, pregnant teenager.  If that woman can change the mind of just one other mom-to-be, then her baby didn’t die in vain.  Maybe just one woman and one baby at a time, we can change the culture of our country, we can become a world where no woman feels so scared or so desperate that she believes she has to have an abortion.  Keep supporting crisis pregnancy centers that counsel women away from abortion then support them through pregnancy and motherhood or adoption.  Teach our young people all the reasons why abstinence is the best choice, but also teach them how to take care of themselves and how to be safe if they choose to have sex, and teach them that even if they make a mistake, they are not a mistake and a baby is never a mistake.  Choosing life is always right.  Then maybe abortion clinics will go out of business on their own.

A friend on facebook, who is personally very close to this issue, reminded me that “Our Timing is not God’s Timing”.  Now may be a time to practice patience, we might have to wait a little longer for the answer to this prayer.

Until later…

De-Funding Planned Parenthood Is Not The Answer

When I started this bloggy thing, I never imagined I would write anything controversial.  In fact, I’ve spent years trying to be anything but controversial.  But, as my opinions have gotten stronger and my voice has gotten louder, I have managed to ruffle a few feathers.  I really don’t like it when people get upset about things I write, however I still feel compelled to write about certain topics that might do just that.  This one is a biggie,  in my real life ultra-conservative community, and specifically with many people that I know and love.

A few weeks ago the House of Representatives voted to discontinue federal funding of Planned Parenthood. Pro-life groups all over the world were rejoicing. In fact, I received an email about it stating that it was a huge step in ending abortion and this was cause for celebration. I wish I could agree, but I just don’t.

I think I better explain my stand on abortion before everyone gets totally nuts on me. I don’t like it. I wish it didn’t happen. I wish it wasn’t so easy to get one. I am very much pro-life. I am in favor of people sitting peacefully outside of abortion clinics and praying for the unborn children and the men and women affected by abortion, as long as they aren’t harassing the people going in. I fully support Crisis Pregnancy Centers that offer counseling aimed at steering scared pregnant women away from abortion and toward keeping their babies or putting them up for adoption. In fact, there is one in my community that I support. We have given them monetary donations as well as gently used baby furniture. If I ever have the opportunity to counsel a woman considering abortion I will do my best to guide her toward a different decision. But I will also tell you that I won’t judge a woman who has done it. It’s not my job and I’m willing to bet, she is judging herself far more harshly anyway. I will be sad for her. She deserves compassion and forgiveness, and I believe that there’s a reason it happens and hope she learns whatever lesson she is meant to learn and someday can pass that on to another.

Planned Parenthood and other clinics like them do perform abortions. They also receive over 300 million dollars in federal funds annually. That’s a lot of money. Although there have been attempts in the past at prohibiting the use of those funds to subsidize abortion, they have never really worked. The money still goes to Planned Parenthood and there really is no way to guarantee that none of it is being used for that purpose. I get that, again I don’t like it. But the issue is far more complicated than that.

Planned Parenthood is not simply an abortion clinic, and sadly I believe that a lot of people don’t realize all that they do. Millions of women every year rely on Planned Parenthood for basic medical care. They provide pelvic exams, pap smears, mammograms, STD screenings and treatment, prenatal care, affordable contraception and HIV testing. They provide these services to women of all ages, races, and income levels…uninsured women in low-income neighborhoods, college students, middle class women who are under-insured and can’t afford to buy birth control at a regular pharmacy, and sexually active teens…millions of women. These services are available to so many because of the federal funding. Without it, Planned Parenthood can’t continue to offer so many services to so many women in need. What so many think is a victory against abortion is a giant step backward for Women’s Health.

Of course I don’t want my tax dollars paying for someone’s abortion, but there are a lot of things I don’t want my tax dollars to support…our tax dollars have been supporting a war in Afghanistan for 9 years. I don’t like it all, thousands of innocent lives have been lost, but I’m not naive or foolish enough to believe that we can simply decide to stop paying for it. There needs to be a plan. The consequences of any abrupt action need to be considered. The same is true in this scenario.

I doubt that in the wake of this decision, family planning clinics that don’t offer abortion services or referrals are going to be popping up all over the country, or that Planned Parenthood will decide to stop offering these services in order to get their money back. Besides that, even if they did, it would be very difficult to fund only clinics that are pro-life because abortion is legal in this country and falls under the umbrella of family planning and reproductive health services.

We need family planning services, and we need all women to have access to them. Right or wrong, most men and women don’t wait until marriage to have sex. I’m 37 and I know exactly one person that was a virgin on her wedding night. Most men and women have sex with more than one partner in their lifetime. Teenagers have sex. I have three girls and of course I will teach them that waiting is the best option, but if they make a different decision I want them to be smart and protected. I hope they talk to me about it, but the reality is they probably won’t. Most kids don’t. They may go to their parents for information or to ask questions, but rarely do they tell their parents if they have sex. This is true of kids raised by two parents in very Christian homes that are taught by their parents and by their schools that abstinence is by far the best choice. Let’s be real!! We want them to have access to birth control and doctors. Beyond sex education and reproductive health, it is important that women can get yearly pelvic exams, PAP smears, and mammograms when needed and it is a fact that Planned Parenthood provides those services to women who wouldn’t be able to get them otherwise.

One final point I’d like to make that Pro-life advocates don’t seem willing to admit, abortion is going to happen with or without this funding, and abortion is going to happen whether it’s legal or not. It was happening before Roe vs Wade, and it was a lot more dangerous and many women died. We’ll be headed right back to the same situation. Making abortion illegal isn’t going to stop abortion, it’s going to kill more women, and that doesn’t seem right either.

This issue is not black and white, there’s a whole lot of gray. I don’t know what the answer is, but taking the money isn’t it. For now, I think the best we can do is keep praying for those affected by abortion, keep supporting Pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, keep telling women that there are better options than abortion and there are people willing to help, but taking away the money will hurt millions of women and will not end the abortion problem in this country.

If you have a minute check out this video produced by the Second City Network in defense of Planned Parenthood.  They make their point and it’s funny too!!

Until later…