Republicans targeting Planned Parenthood is childish

Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health as well as maternal and child health services, has become a legislative target.

Since July, Senate Republicans have made it their mission to take away the organization’s federal funding after an undercover video from anti-abortion groups supposedly revealed Planned Parenthood was profiting from selling fetal parts for medical research.

Senate Republicans introduced a spending bill that would strip Planned Parenthood’s funding for the year, which Democrats blocked. There’s speculation that the issue could lead to a government shutdown, though officials such as John Boehner, (R-Ohio) who recently resigned from his position in Congress, and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, believe a shutdown would not happen. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Sept. 28, 69 percent of American voters oppose shutting down the government over the funding dispute.

Planned Parenthood, originally formed as the American Birth Control League in 1921, has been a target of anti-abortion groups and conservatives because it offers abortion services. Since the 1980s, Republicans have tried to defund the organization on numerous occasions with a government shutdown almost taking place in 2011.

According to its annual report, Planned Parenthood receives $528.4 million a year from the government, which accounts for 41 percent of its revenue sources. The rest of its money comes from private and non-government sources.

While taking the organization’s federal dollars away would not eliminate even half of the funding it receives, we don’t think defunding Planned Parenthood is a good idea.

Most of the current arguments about Planned Parenthood focus on its abortion services, which is only 3 percent of the total services the organization offers. Sexually transmitted infections/disease testing and treatment (42 percent), contraception services (34 percent), other women’s health services (11 percent) and cancer screening and prevention (9 percent) were the top four medical services Planned Parenthood performed in 2013, according to its annual report. The other women’s health services included pregnancy tests and prenatal services.

The organization also provides counseling for its patients who don’t feel comfortable going to their parents or peers for fear of judgement.

Planned Parenthood’s biggest goal is to give young women the tools to prevent unwanted pregnancies through sexual education and outreach. Their efforts have helped bring down teenage births, pregnancies and abortions in the last 20 years.

Then there are the undercover videos the Center for Medical Progress released where Planned Parenthood officials discuss procuring fetal tissues when conducting abortions. The videos, which are heavily edited, leave the impression that Planned Parenthood makes money from fetal tissue. In the unedited videos, Planned Parenthood officials reiterate that clinics want to cover their costs when donating fetal tissue for scientific research, and not make money. Planned Parenthood also released a statement that said the tissue is taken after the patient gives their consent. While the sale of organs, both adult and fetal, by Planned Parenthood for transplantation is illegal, donation of tissue — both from aborted fetuses and from adults — is not. Payment for “reasonable” costs is also allowed under federal law. Several states launched investigations into Planned Parenthood’s offices only to find the organization to be in compliance with state laws and regulations.

Local elected leaders are still hoping to defund Planned Parenthood based on the edited videos. The Center for Medical Progress refuses to acknowledge the information presented in the unedited videos because it doesn’t coincide with their arguments.

Defunding Planned Parenthood might accomplish the goal of anti-abortion activists and Republicans, but it could also mean the rise of illegal abortions and unwanted pregnancies, as well as abandoned and abused children.

To continue making Planned Parenthood a legislative target is another example of Republicans and Democrats getting into these bickering sessions — only the GOP is using false information through biased sources to justify its moves. It’s somewhat childish, and not what’s best for our country.

It’s time for Congress to grow up.