Defend, don’t defund Planned Parenthood

Many people not aware of services, programs offered by Planned Parenthood

Local+residents+fill+in+contact+forms+to+get+involved+with+Palouse+Proactive%2C+a+community+partner+of+Planned+Parenthood%2C+on+Oct.+11.

KEISHA BROKAW | Daily Evergreen file

Local residents fill in contact forms to get involved with Palouse Proactive, a community partner of Planned Parenthood, on Oct. 11.

SHELBY STANWOOD, Evergreen columnist

Many people with health concerns have limited options and turn to Planned Parenthood for help. Nationally defunding Planned Parenthood clinics is not only ignorant of our political representatives, but it’s denying many citizens the right to affordable healthcare.

Planned Parenthood has been at the center of political debate in recent years, especially in connection with some of the medical services they provide. As the media frequently portrays Planned Parenthood in a negative light, many are not aware of what these clinics do day-to-day.

In 2015, 2.4 million people relied on approximately 650 Planned Parenthood health centers for affordable care and 11 percent of these patients were men. According to their 2015-2016 annual report, Planned Parenthood’s website receives 76 million visits a year for a range of health inquiries. That’s nearly a quarter of the entire U.S. population seeking out free and readily available healthcare information.

The most common services provided are emergency contraceptive kits and HIV testing. Only 3 percent of the services provided nationally in 2015-2016 were related to abortion, and most of these were not state-funded, according to the report.

People need a healthcare clinic that does not turn them away based on finances or personal judgment.

“We don’t turn people away if they’re not insured,” a Pullman Planned Parenthood employee said. “Fees are on a sliding scale according to income. They can oftentimes make payment plans too.”

Programs at WSU frequently aim to increase safe sex awareness, and Planned Parenthood has been a leader in education on and off campus. Their local outreach program includes Generation Action at WSU, which hands out free condoms in the CUB every Friday.

Planned Parenthood and its services it provides are threatened by national policy changes. The Affordable Care Act has been a significant step for women’s healthcare since 2016. Before ACA, many women were forced to pay out of pocket for regular healthcare, like breast cancer screenings and birth control.

Before the ACA’s birth control benefit went into effect, contraception accounted for 30 to 44 percent of women’s out-of-pocket healthcare costs, according to Planned Parenthood’s website. With the current push to repeal the Affordable Care Act in the U.S. Senate, our elected officials would be barring women from receiving the healthcare they need.

This is a direct attack on citizens that fall on or below the poverty line who would not be able to afford healthcare without these clinics. Seventy percent of Pullman’s Planned Parenthood patients fall below the poverty line. The repeal of the ACA could lead to a monumental increase in teen pregnancy rates, which are currently at an all-time low, according to the report.

As a nation that prides itself on rights and freedoms for all, it would seem healthcare has been left in the shadows. Planned Parenthood started 100 years ago to ensure people from all walks of life could receive quality care without having to worry about whether they could afford it.

Ignorance from both state and national governments could potentially cause irreparable damage to the progress Planned Parenthood has made in raising safe sex awareness and reducing teen pregnancy.