Support Planned Parenthood Today!

Nurses Activism

Updated:   Published

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?

Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.
ItsThatJenGirl said:
Can you please clarify what you think federal funding is?

It's mostly medicaid, and a bit of Title X (which is a government program designed to allow people under the poverty level access to healthcare). A person with medicaid goes to get a pap smear and birth control - PP bills medicaid (like any other doctor office) and gets their reimbursement. These two programs account for around 60% of their funding. Cutting that would essentially destroy the programs that are available, even the ones we agree on.

I'd really like someone to intelligently discuss how they think defunding will work going forward, and why it's necessary.

And in case people don't know, federal funding does not pay for abortions except in cases of rape/incest or potential harm to the mother.

Statutes and Regulations | HHS.gov

JenGirl,

I am sorry for your personal situation, nobody should have to go through that! I do not disagree with abortion for certain situations and would never deny care to anyone in those situations (rape/incest, medical necessity). I just don't believe that abortion (in general) should be taken lightly, and I am not sure that Planned Parenthood does as much good as everyone thinks.

I also do not want my tax dollars (State of Federal) being spent for unnecessary procedures, which the majority of abortions are. I believe that people need to take more responsibility for their actions.

Please see my link below:

Top 12 Reasons to Defund Planned Parenthood Now - Susan B. Anthony List

Specializes in Hospice.

Daisy4RN:

Your beliefs are your own and you are entitled to live by them. What crosses the line is the idea that your beliefs entitle you to dictate other women's choices.

Meanwhile, I'll read your link and see what I think ... but I warn you that PP has been under attack for a century for its work on behalf of women's control of their own reproduction. It's unlikely that this list will come up with anything that hasn't already been thoroughly debunked. But we'll see.

ETA: sex-trafficking? Really? Nope, they lost me there. I thought I recognized that source.

Daisy4RN said:
JenGirl,

I am sorry for your personal situation, nobody should have to go through that! I do not disagree with abortion for certain situations and would never deny care to anyone in those situations (rape/incest, medical necessity). I just don't believe that abortion (in general) should be taken lightly, and I am not sure that Planned Parenthood does as much good as everyone thinks.

I also do not want my tax dollars (State of Federal) being spent for unnecessary procedures, which the majority of abortions are. I believe that people need to take more responsibility for their actions.

Please see my link below:

Top 12 Reasons to Defund Planned Parenthood Now - Susan B. Anthony List

So what would your solution be? That medicaid no longer covers Planned Parenthood at all?

I have a friend who was slightly overweight (~30 pounds) and she successfully lost it. Her doctor approved a tummy tuck. Her husband is in the military, so you "paid" for that, too. Which one bothers you more?

I'm not trying to argue with you at all, I'm just genuinely interested in the rationale behind this line of thought.

heron said:
Daisy4RN:

Your beliefs are your own and you are entitled to live by them. What crosses the line is the idea that your beliefs entitle you to dictate other women's choices.

Meanwhile, I'll read your link and see what I think ... but I warn you that PP has been under attack for a century for its work on behalf of women's control of their own reproduction. It's unlikely that this list will come up with anything that hasn't already been thoroughly debunked. But we'll see.

ETA: sex-trafficking? Really? Nope, they lost me there. I thought I recognized that source.

I wish I could "like" this 10,000 times!

as a nurse you know there is no such thing as an unborn child/baby, none, nada, zilch. it is wording used to inflame and incite, stop it. and there is no "deserving" of tax money, they are paid for the serices that they provide like any other provider. citations please on ?busted for false advertising".

they are not "tax payer funded", they receive money for services rendered, other than abortion, just like any other provider. why are persons insistent on muddying that fact?

you just admitted to being anti choice.... I congratulate Elk on using the more correct term.

YOU DON'T PAY for abortions, unless you live in a state that does. and if you are really "pro life", there would be NO exceptions! no war, no death penalty, etc. what a woman does with HER body inre to pregnancy is no one's business but her own.

elkpark said:
It is a non-profit healthcare organization. People make donations. They get reimbursed by Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies for the healthcare services they provide. Why is that so hard for people to grasp? "Non-profit" doesn't mean that it doesn't charge for the services it provides.

The major academic medical center for which I work is a non-profit organization. It provides a wide range of healthcare services, including a small number of therapeutic abortions. It gets reimbursed by insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid for the healthcare services it provides (except that Federal funds can't pay for abortions). People also make donations to the medical center. Is there something wrong with that? Do you think that it should not charge for the healthcare services it provides, and try to survive on donations alone? How well do you think that would work out for my employer, and the other non-profit healthcare organizations around the country? I don't see people out in front of hospitals, picketing and demanding that Congress "defund" them because they sometimes perform abortions.

You (anti-choice people collectively) have already gotten your special exclusive exception for abortion services, that your sensibilities are so delicate that your tax dollars can't be used to pay for legitimate, legal healthcare services to which you object. Give it up already!! I object strongly to the way Catholic hospitals deal with issues of reproductive health, and I can't imagine ever being willing to patronize or support a Catholic hospital for that reason, but I'm not out picketing and demanding that Catholic hospitals be stripped of their ability to receive Medicaid and Medicare funding for the other services they provide because of that.

Umm, I understand what a non-profit is, and that they charge for services provided. What I was trying to say in my original post is that Planned Parenthood could function entirely by donations, rather than from tax payer money. I'm not saying that is the best option, just that they won't be going out of business if they get "defunded." There are many, many other services that provide sexual/reproductive health care, STI treatment, birth control options and education, PRENATAL CARE, and MAMMOGRAMS for low income people, that are not PP. Just to clarify, I'm not talking about eliminating PP or making abortion illegal, so please don't put words in my mouth. However, I think PP is a shady organization that is more about profits and agendas than actually helping people and improving women's health.

Also, I am not "anti-choice." Please do not assume that people who do not agree with you about PP are against women being able to make their own choices as a means to control them. I may be pro-life, but I'm not out picketing at PP or demanding they be stripped of federal funding. I have better things to do with my time, thank you very much.

morte said:
if you are really "pro life", there would be NO exceptions! no war, no death penalty, etc. what a woman does with HER body inre to pregnancy is no one's business but her own.

To me, pro-life means I believe every unborn child (or fetus, if you prefer the medical term) has a right to life, and that right extends after they are born as well to grow up in a safe, healthy environment. Abortions for rape/incest and medical necessity are a completely different matter than an abortion for "convenience" or because the family doesn't want one more kid. However, I don't force this opinion on other people, they have the right to think and believe what they want. I don't think abortion should be illegal, I think improved birth control access and education what we really need. Does PP do these things? Possibly, however they have claimed to provide services in the past that they have now confirmed that they do not provide.

Also, saying "pro-life" people should be against the death penalty and war is insane to me. I'm in no way "pro-war," but I understand the importance of defending your country and family. People enlist in the military, that is their choice. And yes, there are casualties and innocent lives (on both sides) are lost as a result of war, but just imagine how many more innocent lives would be lost if we didn't fight back? I guess you could say I'm "pro-death penalty" for convicted serial rapists, serial killers, pedophiles and other heinous criminals. To be honest, they get a more humane death than a 95 year old dementia patient with end stage cancer, contractures, a trach, a feeding tube, and multiple pressure ulcers who has "lived" that way for however many years and remains full code due to the family's wishes (yes I have cared for many of these patients).

///Disclaimer: These are my opinions, sorry if you don't like them///

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
OrganizedChaos said:
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.

I am pro-life yet some of my tax money pays for the death penalty.

Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
cocoa_puff said:
Umm, I understand what a non-profit is, and that they charge for services provided. What I was trying to say in my original post is that Planned Parenthood could function entirely by donations, rather than from tax payer money. I'm not saying that is the best option, just that they won't be going out of business if they get "defunded." There are many, many other services that provide sexual/reproductive health care, STI treatment, birth control options and education, PRENATAL CARE, and MAMMOGRAMS for low income people, that are not PP. Just to clarify, I'm not talking about eliminating PP or making abortion illegal, so please don't put words in my mouth. However, I think PP is a shady organization that is more about profits and agendas than actually helping people and improving women's health.

Also, I am not "anti-choice." Please do not assume that people who do not agree with you about PP are against women being able to make their own choices as a means to control them. I may be pro-life, but I'm not out picketing at PP or demanding they be stripped of federal funding. I have better things to do with my time, thank you very much.

What other services? Because in my town there is a PP & maybe 2 OBGYNs. So if that PP shut down, where would those women go? The closest towns are over an hour away. I have been to that PP in my town & it was full. What if those women don't have Medicaid, don't qualify or for a variety of other reasons can't/don't go to an OBGYN. That's a bigger issue than abortion.

+ Add a Comment