Planned Parenthood

This blog will be a departure from my usual, as I am upset today about not only the death of my son, but with the complete lack of common sense in the halls of our government. We are threatened today with a complete government shutdown effecting our troops, federal workers, national parks and many more. The reason for this stalement among our elected officials; Planned Parenthood. The debate? Planned parenthood among other things, provides abortion services to low income women. The fact that these services are not paid for with government money has apparently been lost on republicans who insist that "The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X."

The fact is that the vast majority of the services provided by this organization involve access to cancer screenings, contraceptives and STD screening. In fact, according to Cecile Rich of Planned Parenthood "One in five women in America have been to a Planned Parenthood health center for basic health care," she said. "Ninety-seven percent of our services are basic preventative care that women rely on in communities across this country. Women and men of all parties and all walks of life are concerned about these kinds of efforts to play politics with women's health care access."

I find it sad that we as a country have decided that we will refuse to balance our deficit on the backs of the wealthy and have instead decided that it's okay to do so on the backs of low income women who would otherwise have no access to reproductive health care. As a woman who has used Title X funding for healthcare and contraceptives, I am appalled that denial of these services is being promoted on ideological grounds. When will the republican party learn that it cannot use it's influence to promote it's own brand of morality, something on which we will never come to an agreement? Services associated with Planned Parenthood are one of the things that make this country great and it will be a sad day when political posturing affects the health of millions of women across the United States. Kudos to democrats for standing up against this ridiculous legislation, I truly hope that republicans concede before the deadline this evening.