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I see in the news that anti-choice organizations are planning demonstrations today at Planned Parenthood facilities around the US to support GOP plans to defund PP.

Of course, my first thought was to grab a sign (and my, ummm, "kittyhat"!) and head for my local facility to show my support for PP, but I also see in the news that PP offices are asking that supporters not show up at the facilities to counter-protest (because they don't want the crowds of protesters any larger or more chaotic than necessary as women are trying to get in and out for services).

Some communities are planning counter-demonstrations in other venues, but I haven't been able to find any information about any events planned in my city.

So, I've decided to set aside the time planned for the anti-choice demonstration in my city today to contact all my elected representatives, from the White House down to my state legislators, and Tom Price at DHHS, to remind them that I support PP and am strongly opposed to any efforts to restrict women's reproductive rights or Planned Parenthood's access to public healthcare dollars as a legitimate healthcare provider.

I hope PP supporters here will consider doing the same, and spread the word to people you know. I hope people all over the country will have the same thought. Wouldn't it be great if, while comparatively small groups of protesters are standing out in the cold and snow with their signs, huge numbers of Americans were flooding mail boxes and switchboards around the country with messages of support for PP, women's health, and reproductive rights?

2 Votes
Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

When the human unborn baby gets a choice, then we can talk pro-choice or anti-choice. The opposite of pro-life is pro-death, and death is what happens when a human life ends. As someone who finds it pure hypocrisy concerning those who have been born fighting for the right to determine whether one unborn child has value and can be born or another has no value and should be killed. As such, I do hope that Planned Parenthood does not receive a single taxpayer penny.

8 Votes

We had a large protest/counter-protest in my city. I was literally in the middle of it ! Pro-choice Planned Parenthood supporters (counter-protesters) outnumbered the anti-choice protesters by roughly three to one. It is always so encouraging to see the huge variety of people who openly support Planned Parenthood and the great work they do.

I'm also happy to report that we had a very peaceful protest. Loud, but peaceful !

ETA: Elkpark, thanks for encouraging others to contact their elected representatives ! I'm right there with you :up: !

1 Votes
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
pmabraham said:
When the human unborn baby gets a choice, then we can talk pro-choice or anti-choice. The opposite of pro-life is pro-death, and death is what happens when a human life ends. As someone who finds it pure hypocrisy concerning those who have been born fighting for the right to determine whether one unborn child has value and can be born or another has no value and should be killed. As such, I do hope that Planned Parenthood does not receive a single taxpayer penny.

I agreed with you up until the last sentence. Planned Parenthood is much more that an abortion clinic. So many low income women (& men) go to PP to seek care not related to an abortion. To get rid of it would put many of those low income earners in a tough spot. I'm sure they wouldn't seek medical help otherwise or that is their only option.

I am not pro-choice but I have to be realistic. If we ban abortions completely, what will happen? Girls will try to abort themselves, go to a back alley to get someone to do it & the luckier ones will be able to go somewhere where it is legal. If the girls from the first two examples don't get a complete abortion or in the process hurt themselves, they will need medical care. Medical care they will be afraid to receive due to laws that could put them in jail.

There is no way to please both the pro-choice & pro-lifers. I think getting rid of Planned Parenthood is a huge mistake & banning abortions can lead to dire consequences.

2 Votes
Specializes in Hospice.

The single most effective way to reduce the number of abortions is access to safe and affordable contraception. PP provides that and has been doing so for a century.

Pro-life people like OC understand that. Forced pregnancy people don't care because the "real" issue is control of women's sexual behavior and has nothing to do with reverence for life.

6 Votes
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
heron said:
The single most effective way to reduce the number of abortions is access to safe and affordable contraception. PP provides that and has been doing so for a century.

Pro-life people like OC understand that. Forced pregnancy people don't care because the "real" issue is control of women's sexual behavior and has nothing to do with reverence for life.

I just can't imagine a place where women can't have access to the healthcare they need. Having affordable healthcare access to things like birth control can prevent so many unintended pregnancies & help women with certain medical disorders.

I am not fond of abortions but sometimes it is a better decision than women having children & those children being put in foster care or having to live in horrendous conditions. Would you really want the system clogged up with kids who weren't wanted? That costs so much more than an abortion. What about all the children that are born into abuse & the many that are killed? No child deserves that.

6 Votes

I certainly would NOT support any nonprofit organization where the CEO makes $600,000 per year. It's so ridiculous and unnecessary. And on top of this, the American taxpayer is forced to give them millions of dollars annually. Stop the madness!

3 Votes
annie204 said:
I certainly would NOT support any nonprofit organization where the CEO makes $600,000 per year. It's so ridiculous and unnecessary. And on top of this, the American taxpayer is forced to give them millions of dollars annually. Stop the madness!

Okay -- so I'm sure you feel the same about the American Cancer Society, the United Way, the American Heart Association, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Alzheimer's Association, the CEOs of which all make more than $1 million annually. Shoot, the CEO of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation makes more than $2 million a year! I agree it seems like a lot of money, but a $600k CEO salary is actually pretty modest and responsible in the world of national nonprofits and charities.

And American taxpayers aren't "forced" to give them millions of dollars annually. When women and men (yes, PP provides healthcare services to men, also) with Medicaid or Medicare healthcare coverage get physical exams, Pap smears, cancer screenings, family planning/contraception services and supplies, or HIV or STD screenings, Medicaid and Medicare pay for those services, the same as they would if those individuals got those healthcare services from any other healthcare provider. Is there something wrong with that? That's most of the Federal money that goes to PP. They also get some funding under Title X, which is a Federal program that provides funds to make family planning services available to low income individuals; agencies apply for grants under Title X and, if they meet the program's criteria, they get some money to provide those services. PP, along with lots of other agencies and organizations, including lots of state and local public health departments, meets the program criteria and requirements to qualify for grant money. Again, is there something wrong with that? Do you propose that PP somehow be singled out to not be eligible for Title X funding, unlike all the other agencies that get money under Title X? Why??

Charity Highest Paid | Charity Top Compensation | Charity Ratings | Charity Rankings | CharityWatch

Title X Family Planning | HHS.gov

9 Things People Get Wrong About Planned Parenthood

4 Votes
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
annie204 said:
I certainly would NOT support any nonprofit organization where the CEO makes $600,000 per year. It's so ridiculous and unnecessary. And on top of this, the American taxpayer is forced to give them millions of dollars annually. Stop the madness!

That's it? That's all the CEO makes? Would you rather your tax dollars go to helping men & women stay healthy or to support the many children that will born without Planned Parenthood's help.

Here, read this:When the trolls come at you over birth control coverage, here's what to say

Educate yourself before you spew out any more nonsense.

2 Votes

Why isn't Planned Parenthood a non-profit charitable organization??? I'm sure it could function at the same capacity with donations. Then instead of protesting and acting like the world is ending, people (including wealthy celebrities) could be proactive by donating money to support PP. If people believe in what PP is doing, they can give money, those who are against PP should not have to.

Also, defunding PP is NOT the same thing as making abortion illegal (I'm pro-life, but understand that women have the right to make their own decisions, even if I do not agree). Let's just make that clear....

1 Votes

What is always forgotten in this conflict is that both sides have the best of intentions for women and girls that have a crisis pregnancy. No one wants anything bad to happen to her, just the very best outcome. If both sides don't acknowledge that, things degrade to insults and name calling and ultimately ego gratification based on who has the best "gotcha" argument.

I consider myself to be pro-life choice and I understand the sense it makes for low/no cost medical care to be available. It has been available in this country for over a century by organizations that understood the human being isn't just a utilitarian object.

Everyone wants the best for everyone here. People are willing to put their money where their mouth is and they should. There are crisis pregnancy centers that provide the very same services, except one, as PP, as well as family assistance and adoption services. Support them if that is where you are.

There are community health centers that provide low/no cost comprehensive medical care with the ability to refer and admit to hospitals that PP cannot. Support them if that's where you are. Better yet, support them both.

If abortion is such a tiny component of women's health care, it sure get's the lions share of attention to the detriment of girls and women's well being. Maybe we can leave that aside for the moment and do what we all say we want to do which is to take care of women and their families.

2 Votes
Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.
OrganizedChaos said:
I agreed with you up until the last sentence. Planned Parenthood is much more that an abortion clinic.

So if a serial killer provided some services some people taught were a good thing, let the serial killer keep on killing? And if moral society can make it illegal to kill another born human being, are you stating it is impossible to do the same?

There are alternatives to Planned Parenthood that does not involve the following:

* A CEO that makes $600,000 per year and lives in a gated community.

* An organization that has over $1.4 BILLION dollars in assets based on their own annual report.

* An organization that recently got busted for false advertising of pre-natal services.

* An organization that continues to be involving scandals and shows that the real reason they are in business is to make a profit killing unborn human children.

There are other choices than Planned Parenthood. They do not deserve tax money.

2 Votes
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