Thanks to a recently passed amendment, the House of Representatives has their hands in our reproductive organs.
On Feb. 18, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment to remove funding to Planned Parenthood and the government-run Title X program, both of which provide reproductive health care services to low-income people.
According to ABC News, the measure, if passed by the Senate, would eradicate close to $330 million from Planned Parenthod and Title X funding by the end of September. This money would normally go to Planned Parenthood and Title X to provide family planning, birth control, and medical services such as cancer screenings and HIV testing.
Rep. Jackie Speier from California responded to comments made during the debate against abortion funding by declaring, “that procedure that you just talked about was a procedure that I endured. I lost a baby.”
“There is a vendetta against Planned Parenthood,” Speier said. “For you to stand on this floor and to suggest, as you have, that somehow this is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly or done without any thought is preposterous … Planned Parenthood has a right to offer abortions. Last time I checked, abortions were legal in this country.”
So what does this amendment mean for those who rely on these crucial services?
“Your vote was not only against those who seek care at Planned Parenthood health centers,” reads “An Open Letter to Congress” posted on the Planned Parenthood website; “but against every one of us who has ever sought care there, and against every one of us who knows that when we are healthy, when we are in charge of our lives, we thrive.”
The consequences of eliminating funding for both Title X and Planned Parenthood services — which according to The Washington Post provides health care to a combined 8 million women each year — could be devastating. Just how devastating was document in a survey conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, in which six in 10 clients view family planning services — such as Planned Parenthood — as their main source of health care.”
With the advancement of this amendment to the Senate, those who cannot otherwise afford these vital heath services are one step closer to being left in the dark. An unplanned pregnancy can devastate educational and professional opportunities, especially for young women. They may never be able to live the life they long for.
As with many diseases, the survival rate for cancer patients is much higher the earlier it is detected. Women deprived of screening services may not know of a malignant tumor until it is too late.
Without Planned Parenthood’s care, more people will undoubtedly contract an STD. Many STDs, when left untreated, can lead to sterility and life-threatening situations. And if people are unaware of an infection, there is a greater risk of spreading it to others. We all know the outcome of the HIV virus.
Cutting funding to Planned Parenthood and Title X could lead to an epidemic. It could lead to broken dreams, slammed doors. It probably will lead to chaos. Call me melodramatic, but this amendment is truly a matter of life and death, and it is unbelievable that Congress should even consider putting their citizens at such risk.