Planned Parenthood put in corner

Planned Parenthood recently made the choice to refuse Title X funding. This is a huge blow to the 4 million people served by this program. Title X monies were used to provide low- or no-cost contraception, disease, and cancer screenings for low income people. Federal funds from this program have never been used to fund abortion, in accordance with the Hyde Amendment.

Planned Parenthood made this choice because the Trump administration forced them into a corner. The organization — which has steadfastly advocated for people’s rights to make their own reproductive choices since the days when birth control was illegal and spousal rape wasn’t — had to choose between accepting the funds and honoring their commitment to provide safe and legal abortions.

The data is clear. The best way to reduce the number of people seeking to terminate pregnancies is to improve access to affordable birth control. Prevention works. Prohibition doesn’t.

This move, which specifically targets Planned Parenthood and decreases the availability of birth control, will almost certainly result in the abortion rate climbing. This strategy is not about saving unborn children. It’s about controlling people’s bodies. It’s about imposing a patriarchal morality on the American people.

Planned Parenthood and other providers of comprehensive reproductive health services deserve our support. We can write our legislators. We can find a little money to donate to Planned Parenthood. Above all, we can support the right and the responsibility of all people to manage their own reproductive health.

Elizabeth Stevens

Moscow, Idaho