I Stand with Planned Parenthood
I have been very fortunate in my life. Except for three months after college, I have never been uninsured. And the insurance I have is excellent. I have amazing doctors. I have access to plenty of pharmacies.
I have never needed Planned Parenthood.
But, I am very grateful that they exist. They provide support, health care, comfort, and hope to thousands of women and men.
Over the past few years, I have watched as Planned Parenthood has been attacked for providing a vital and 100% legal health care service. Not everyone believes this procedure should be legal. Too bad. It is. Women have the right to receive abortions and Planned Parenthood has the right to perform them.
If you don’t like abortions, if you think there should be less of them, then you need to provide women with education and access to safe and affordable contraception - a service that Planned Parenthood gladly provides.
One thing that willnotreduce the number of abortions in the country is the defunding of Planned Parenthood.
With less funds, Planned Parenthood will have to make choices: Do they dedicate their remaining funds towards more education campaigns and free or low cost contraception? Do they put it towards screenings for cancer? Or do they use their remaining funds to continue to provide abortions - a service that may not be readily available anywhere else?
The Susan G. Komen Foundation bent to ideological pressure yesterday. But does anyone actually believe Planned Parenthood will stop providing a completely legal medical service as a result? Or will they instead cut back on routine gynecological exams? Mammography? General health exams? Community outreach? How many women will become pregnant as a result of this pig-headedness?
Like I said before, I have never needed Planned Parenthood. But Planned Parenthood needs me. Last night I made a donation to this extremely worthy organization. I plan to start giving on a monthly basis. It is extremely easy to do.
I urge everyone to make a donation. You can give as little as $5.
As an extra incentive, Mayor Bloomberg will provide a matching donation up to $250,000 for every dollar raised in the next 24 hours.
This is a country that is ridiculously bad at taking care of its citizens. Too many of us are uninsured, underinsured, or don’t have access to quality health care providers. Planned Parenthood is a beacon of hope for so many women in so many ways. They deserve our support.
I Stand with Planned Parenthood, and so should you.
