#StandWithPP. I Am.

Friday, February 18, 2011

A year & a half ago, I attended an interfaith memorial service for Dr. George Tiller, the reproductive services provider who was murdered by an anti-choice activist in June 2009 while he attended church. It was there that I realized just how much the issue of choice matters to me. I am pro-choice; I have never believed in anything less than a woman's right to choose what is best for her own body & her own child. I came home from the service & wrote this post about my passion for this issue.

Today, my stomach turned when I learned that the House of Representatives voted to cut funding to family planning service providers - namely, the ever-controversial Planned Parenthood. What you may not know - because, for the most part, the media glosses over it - is that it is currently illegal for family planning service providers like Planned Parenthood to use federal funds to provide abortions - so they don't. Instead, they use these federal funds to provide vital family planning services, including contraceptive services, STD & HIV/AIDS screenings, cancer screenings, pregnancy testing & prenatal care. Tax dollars don't fund abortions - they fund services intended to both prevent unwanted pregnancies & ensure the birth of healthy children.

Today, the House of Representatives made the fight about something it isn't. Disregarding the facts, they proceeded with a vote that would strip Planned Parenthood & organizations like of all its government funding, thereby leaving approximately 5 million women nationwide without the access they depend on to crucial family planning services. Of course, because these organizations disproportionately service low-income women, it's low-income women who will suffer the most under these cuts.

Today, I made a $50 donation to Planned Parenthood. My eloquent friend Lexa gave more, writing, "I just donated to Planned Parenthood because: my body is not a pawn, I believe all women should be able to access reproductive health services, giving $100 makes me feel not quite as helpless, Rep. Pence needs to know how I feel about his political grandstanding, and because, for me, it is the morally right thing to do." You can too.

Today, I took two minutes to write to my Senators to ask that they not let this dangerous, demeaning bill go any further. You can, too.

Stand for something or fall for anything, they say. So I'm standing. I #StandWithPP.

11 comments:

  1. Giving helps me deal with it. I can't really look it in the face.

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  2. Very thoughtfully written post and I'm glad to see others getting the word out!

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  3. Great post. Totally agree with you, I've been researching NARAL for a school project and I'm definitely pro-choice also. I think it's ridiculous to assume that abortion is selfish when the first thought on a lot of womens minds is what would be best for their child. Perhaps people should stop funding pointless wars and look to take care of their own...

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  4. I'm so glad that you're writing about this. I wrote about it on my blog a couple days ago. But I don't know, I mean...what can we do as a people to fight against this, besides just writing about it? I'm glad people are raising awareness, but isn't there something we can do to stop this? It's so frustrating! :(

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  5. I'll never understand the rationale that educating people about healthy practices promotes the things they think it does. Le sigh.

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  6. They shouldn't shouldn't have their funding taken away if it's used to increase sexual health awareness....people are too quick to jump on a misinformed bandwagon these days.

    However, I don't agree with your views on abortion and it's probably one of the few things I don't agree with you over. Yes a woman has a right to choose -to choose whether or not to have a sex (obviously the issue of rape is completely separate). At the end of the day, and at the risk of being crude, if you open your legs, you know what the risks are and sex isn't a decision that should be taken lightly. If you're not willing to raise a child and you don't think your partner is someone to stick around, then you shouldn't have sex. I'll never see abortion as anything but murder. That being said, I'm not one of those crazy campaigners, shoving abortion pictures in people's faces (hate those people), but I do have strong beliefs.

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  7. I signed the petition.

    I've never understood why others are so concerned with my body. My body, my offspring, my decision.

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  8. Cosigned. Great post, Suburban Sweetheart!

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