The benefits of Planned Parenthood

What is Planned Parenthood? Why keep it around? Why should you care?

Joselyn Hildebrand
February 26, 2019

High school students often find themselves very uneducated about all things relating to sex, pregnancy and STIs. This is mainly because some find it uncomfortable to talk about or don’t have the resources they need. This is where Planned Parenthood is such a helpful resource. East is a school full of teenagers who have questions and concerns, this is one resource for them to get those concerns and questions answered.
What is Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood offers at least 12 services to both men and women. They offer affordable and even anonymous services. Not only are they a great resource for sex education, their range of services vary from STIs, pregnancy and cancer screenings. They help to advance global health. For example, they work with partners in other countries to provide healthcare and education. They also help to advance local health in your own neighborhoods and cities.
Former East High student, 24, Cassie Couch said “I went there for birth control, they went over all my options and helped me pick which one is best for me. I’ve recommended PP to many people.”
“PP made a difference in my everyday life by allowing me to be protected from getting pregnant when I was too afraid to tell my mother I was sexually active.” Couch said. They offer their services comfortably, making sure you know you are not alone.
On their website you can view other women’s stories and so you don’t feel alone in what you are going through.
“When I was a teenager, I had plenty of friends who went to PP for birth control, I had a friend who had an abortion through them. Even recently, a friend of mine went to PP to go through her options for an unplanned pregnancy,” Couch said.
Planned Parenthood is led by doctors and their staff is also educated to make sure they know what they’re doing. The Planned Parenthood official website is a great resource for any person having questions about their body, pregnancy, relationships and sex.
“PP made a difference in my everyday life by allowing me to be protected from getting pregnant when I was too afraid to tell my mother I was sexually active,” Couch said. They even offer help for depression, substance abuse and diabetes.
Some people are opposed to Planned Parenthood and their services. If Planned Parenthood were to lose funding, 2.5 million people would lose access to healthcare such as birth control, STI treatment and cancer screenings. I respect people that are against abortions for their own personal reasons. Also, understand that abortions are less than three percent of what Planned Parenthood does.
“So many people benefit from PP. I don’t see why anyone would be against it. To anyone who would be against it, if it was your mother, sister or daughter needing this help would you be against them? Don’t use it if you don’t want to, but some of us need it,” Rinker said.
Planned Parenthood offers help to patients regardless of their socioeconomic status, which a lot of medical institutions do not. “There are a lot of people that would be denied help at one place, but PP would be able to find a way to help them,” Rinker said.
As of last Spring, President Trump announced a rule that would strip Title X funding at Planned Parenthood. Title X makes sure over four million people get the reproductive health care that they need. In 2016, Title X provided roughly 1 million women with breast exams, 4.1 million STI tests and about 700,000 cervical screenings.
“I think we are creating a permanent division among the people of our country, simply because we have differing opinions,” Rinker said. “As a female, it hits really close to home that (mainly) rich, white men have more power than I do over my ability to do what I want with my own body.”
With legislation coming up every year that threatens the funding of Planned Parenthood, women feel increasingly concerned about the ability to make their own choices. We need to be represented more fairly.
“I should have the right to do what’s best for my own health, any being that I might bring into the world’s health, as well as my own well-being and life quality. This situation reflects how jaded our system is for creating and deciding on laws that will be enforced. If a law is going to affect a large group of people, then that group of people should be well represented through the process of creating and signing a law into effect. I think, as a country, we need to step up and do a better job about educating ourselves and being open minded when considering changes that will affect our own people,” Rinker said.
As of right now Planned Parenthood is fully funded and the fetal heartbeat law was found unconstitutional. If one day it takes effect, the law would be the most restrictive abortion regulation in the country. Fight for your health and your rights, ladies and gentlemen.