Good or evil?

Mitchell Hibler
English 2010
The defunding of Planned Parenthood, a debate that has been rising in
popularity as the presidential race continues is always a heated one. While
there are a lot of differing opinions and why and why not it should be
defunded but in all actuality it should not be.
Planned Parenthood is a group that has struggled in the worlds eye.
They simply cannot please everyone and have always been under the
scrutiny of the nation. However when you are a company that provides the
services that Planned Parenthood does the scrutiny is expected. Planned
Parenthood offers many services regarding womens and mens health. They
provide screaming for STDs and cancer, and they also provided
contraception for a lot of young people that have no other way of getting it.
But these are not the services that they are known for in fact many people
only know Planned Parenthood for the abortion services that they offer. This
is what had caused this issue to explode into the big debate that it is today,
however there are many points that people miss out on about Planned
Parenthood by jumping to conclusions about how bad they are. But if time is
taken to find out what is really going on Planned Parenthood goes form a
horrific company to one that should be commended.
Planned Parenthood is a large organization and it relies on a majority of
government funding in order to keep its doors open. Planned Parenthood
receives around 41% of its total income from the federal government most of
it coming from Medicaid (source 1). The big argument for Planned
Parenthood to stop receiving this money is because they allegedly are selling
aborted fetus tissue for a profit and this is illegal under federal law. Now this
has yet to be proven, and while there is still a federal case looking into it no
definitive evidence against them has been found. Also none of the money
that Planned Parenthood receives from the federal government is used for
abortion rather it used for other things such as cancer screenings,
contraception, and STD testing. So if that money is taken away many of the
low income woman who depend on planned parenthoods services will no
longer be able to receive the treatment that they need.
This graph below (source 2) published by Lori Robertson shows all of
planned parenthoods services and shows just how much each service is

used. Many people believe that abortion is a huge part of what these clinics
do every day but that is simply not that case. The two biggest things that
Planned Parenthood does is test for sexually transmitted diseases and
infections, and provided contraception for both men and women. Both of
these services are huge in the effect that they have on the population. If
Planned Parenthood were to shut down and no longer offer these services
the spread of sexually transmitted diseases would become rampant because
many people are too embarrassed to talk to their doctor about problems like
this. If that happened there would be many more deaths associated with
STDs and the government would just have another big problem on its hands.
On the same line if Planned Parenthood was shut down and they had to stop
providing contraception to the many people that depend on it because of the
low price then the amount of unplanned pregnancies especially in young
adults would sky rocket. If this happened then it would have the same affect
more tax payer money would have to be used to help support all these low
income familys because now they have no way to prevent a pregnancy that
they are not finically ready for themselves.

Many women have come to depend on Planned Parenthood and the

many services that they offer, and with the government funding that they
receive gives them the ability to keep their costs to consumers low. However
with the recent attacks on Planned Parenthood many women have had the

scare that many of their basic needs in healthcare will be taken away.
President Obama said they've been involved in an orchestrated and historic
effort to roll back basic rights when it comes to women's health" (source 3).
Obama is saying with this attack on Planned Parenthood and the argument to
defund them would be a violation of basic rights of young women for all over
who depend on their affordable health care in order to stay healthy and to
also prevent many unplanned pregnancies. In the state of Texas many people
have been pushing for the defunding and closing of many clinics because of
the controversial video that was posted about some of the abortion practices
in Planned Parenthood. However the results that they got had the opposite
effect. With the closing of so many clinics many women can no longer
receive the care that they need and can no longer access the birth control
that they need in order to stop unplanned pregnancies. With that many
expect the unplanned birth rate to explode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laYQ2DDFmCg
Obamas opinion on Planned Parenthood

(Source 4) this image is showing how the cost to tax payers will only keep
rising if Texas continues to go on this same path. This is the opposite effect
that the Texas officials were going for because they believed that if they cut
the programs then the impact on tax payers would be less of a burden.

In a recent video that has surfaced a pro-life group that is called the
center for medical progress has recorded one of planned parenthoods lead
medical executives Dr. Deborah Nucatola discussing the sale of aborted fetus
tissue. While the video that most people have seen has been doctored in
order to shorten it and take out some of the more detailed and boring parts.
In the original video doctor Nucatola from Planned Parenthood specifically
states that this should not be seen as some new revenue stream because
that is not what it is (source 5). With this Planned Parenthood makes it clear
that while they do accept some money it is only so that the transportation
and preservation of the fetal tissue does not affect their bottom line. This is
clearly in the law because there is a clause that states The term valuable
consideration does not include reasonable payments associated with the
transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or
storage of human fetal tissue (source 6). This allows organizations such as
Planned Parenthood the ability to have the fetal tissue delivered to medical
researches and not have to pay the cost of it from their own pocket. It also
allows them to put the money they would have spent towards other more
important services that they offer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4UjIM9B9KQ
Planned Parenthoods executive on under cover camera
Another key argument for the defunding of Planned Parenthood is that
it is not morally right to even preform medical research on aborted fetal
tissue but if it was not for the research that has been conducted we would
not be where we are today in the medical field. Research with fetal tissue has
been happening since the 1930S and so far it has helped to make strides to
help with many medical conditions and diseases. Doctor Samuel M. Cohen
said I am here today to express my strong support for fetal tissue research,
which is being actively pursued in my department and the potential future
benefits of this research for treating human disease (source 7). This alone
shows how much we have gained form the research that has been done and
also shows how far back it would put the advancements in medicine that
have come from this research. He goes on to say Due to their capacity to
rapidly divide, grow and adapt to new environments, fetal cells hold unique
promise for medical research into a variety of diseases and medical
conditions (source 7). With that Doctor Cohen states that there is a vast

need for such research and that if the testing on fetal tissue were to be
stopped we would lose the vast study that can be done on diseases that we
have yet to cure.
All in all yes, there are some parts about Planned Parenthood that
could be done better in order to avoid all the conflicts that they have been
experiencing over the past years. However Planned Parenthood is one
organization where the good out weights the bad. There are many questions
into the morals of this company but if you take a step back and look at all the
good things that Planned Parenthood does in order to prevent unplanned
pregnancies and help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted disease
then the morality should not be in question. This organization is one that
helps young women all of the country not only receive the care they need
but can also give them the privacy that they feel they cannot get at their
family doctors and it gives them safe alternatives if a pregnancy does
happen. With this and all the reasons above Planned Parenthood is an
organization that needs to stay around and continue to help the young
people of this country.

Source 1- Kliff, Sara. "Planned Parenthood Gets over $500 Million

Annually in Public Funds. Here's Where It Goes." Vox. 22 July 2015. Web. 1
Nov. 2015.
Source 2- Robertson, Lori. "Planned Parenthood." FactCheckorg. 18 Apr.
2011. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Source 3- "President Obama Speaks at the Planned Parenthood
Gala." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Apr. 2013. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.

Source 4- Lee, Jaeah. "Charts: This Is What Happens When You Defund
Planned Parenthood." Mother Jones. 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Source 5- "Planned Parenthood Exec, Fetal Body Parts in Video CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 July 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Source 6- "42 U.S. Code 289g2 - Prohibitions regarding Human Fetal
Tissue." LII / Legal Information Institute. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Source 7 Cohen, Samuel. "Testimony of Samuel M. Cohen Concerning
Fetal Tissue Research." ASCB. Samuel M. Cohen, 30 Jan. 2009. Web. 1 Nov.
2015. -