A society is not sustainable if women don’t have basic control over their fertility. That’s just fundamental, a no-brainer.
So the ongoing Republican assault war blitzkrieg on women’s reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood specifically should enrage anyone who cares about a sustainable future — and propel us off our asses. This isn’t just an attack on abortion; it’s an attack on contraception. Incredible, considering that the overwhelming majority of Americans of all political persuasions say they support birth control and virtually all sexually active straight women use some form of it.
The House on Friday voted to cut off all federal funding to Planned Parenthood. The organization currently gets more than $75 million a year from the federal government to provide family-planning services to low-income Americans. None of that goes to abortions; instead, it funds things like contraception, breast exams, cancer screening, HIV and STD testing, and counseling on safer sex and infertility. (Planned Parenthood’s abortion services are funded separately, and only make up 3 percent of services the group provides.) And the House Republicans don’t just want to defund Planned Parenthood; they want to defund the entire Title X program that provides birth control and reproductive-health services to 5 million low-income Americans — even though the program saves taxpayers $4 for every $1 invested [PDF].
This issue now goes to the Senate. So, people, you know what to do …
Here’s Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards talking about the attack on her group and women generally:
And here’s a dramatic rendering of the attack on abortion rights, featuring actress Lisa Edelstein in a MoveOn ad:
One in five American women gets care from Planned Parenthood at some point during her lifetime, the group says. I’m one of them: I relied on Planned Parenthood for prescription birth control and an annual exam when I was between jobs and insurance plans. How about you?
This is the latest in a series of Saturday GINK videos about population and reproduction (or a lack thereof).
