Planned Parenthood Funding
By: Reynna Nelson
As time has passed, the topic of planned parenthood has been discussed by many. This topic is widely overemphasized in which many have formed strong opinions towards using planned parenthood. Over time, this program has proved to be unreliable and somewhat unnecessary to America. There are many factors in which affect the way people feel about planned parenthood including the fact that it is funded by the government taxes, along with the strongly argued topic that it supports and emphasizes abortion. These disagreements prove that planned parenthood should not be funded by government taxes due to the fact that not everyone agrees with what it portrays to society.
Admittedly, planned parenthood has been effective in the sense that it has provided a wide variety of care to women who are in need of reproductive health care services. However, many facts have proven planned parenthood is deceiving taxpayers, along with over emphasizing their services. One of the main points that many are concerned with when it comes to this topic is the amount of money that people are paying in order to keep this organization alive. Planned parenthood has become a billion-dollar organization on the backs of taxpayers, due to the role of the government in our mixed economy. This organization earned $128 million in revenue with over $1.4 billions in net assets last year. In the same year, federal and state governments provided them with over $528 million to fund their profitable programs. Some taxpayers are being forced to put forth their money toward an organization in which they do not support, this being the marginal cost. In return they receive the benefits of being able to use planned parenthood, which is the marginal benefit. But how much of a benefit is there when half the population does not support the organization? Currently, Americans are virtually split in half over whether planned parenthood’s funding should be left alone or completely cut. Forty-six percent said it should be left alone while forty-two percent said it should be completely cut. The remaining were undecided. This proves that people who do not want planned parenthood should not be forced to pay taxes in order to keep it available. In this, they are giving up the opportunity cost of the government using their money to go toward something more widely supported.
A very talked about and important topic involving planned parenthood is the utilization of abortion. Many people think about abortion when the topic of planned parenthood is brought up. Due to the fact that many disagree with abortion, this is the reason as to why many do not want to fund such programs. Planned parenthood’s business models is known to be centered around abortion. Former planned parenthood clinic director, Abby Johnson, has written that she was given an abortion quota and was even told by her superiors to “double the number of abortions” in order to bring in more revenue. Over 37% of all planned parenthood clinic income revenue is from abortion procedures. This also shows that more taxpayer funding would equal more abortions, and less adoption referrals. Over time, the amount of funding towards planned parenthood has increased and this has shown a 66% increase in abortion rates, and a 61% decrease in adoption referrals throughout these centers in America. This goes to show that if we do not decrease, or cut of funding completely for these centers, the amount of abortions will continue to be at large or even increase as time passes.
Overall, the taxpayers should not be forced to fund planned parenthood due to the large amount of money that it requires. In doing so, the taxpayers are giving their money to an organization that they are possibly against, when the government could use the money for something else.
"Do We Still Need Planned Parenthood? - Obamacare Facts." Obamacare Facts. N.p., 23 July 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
After reading this piece of writing I am really starting to take a standpoint on this topic. I do not agree with planned parent hood just like you had said. The fact that a living human being is the one who is aborted is something that should majorly affect the way people think about this topic. There are always choices and sometimes those choices are some of the hardest to make. Though planned parent hood is not something that many think highly upon, it is another way out for people if they so choose it. In all good job writing your post and it was interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this because not a lot of people use planned parenthood so I feel like they shouldn't be giving their money away for something they don't use at all, instead they could use it for something else that they actually need. And also if the government were to put themselves in the taxpayers situation they would not pay it too, only if they don't use planned parenthood or doesn't agree with it. Overall the taxpayers should have the right to choose whether if they want to pay the tax or not because it's their own money that they work hard for and should be able to control it.
ReplyDeleteA lot of great points are made within this post. I completely agree with the fact that taxpayers should not have to pay for something that they may not even use, and something that would cost so much money to fund to begin with. Although a lot of young women would most likely benefit from the program being funded, they should find a different way or not be stupid in their actions. Abortion is always a controversial topic. No one ever agrees with one another, that’s also why there can’t really be a law made as to when abortion can or cannot be used. The government should at least try and figure out how something can be worked out for Planned Parenthood to get the money that they need to support all of the people that go there.
ReplyDeleteI agree on the statement that tax payers should not have to abide to paying for planned parenthood. However, I disagree with the third sentence of your post. I believe Planned Parenthood is widely used throughout the USA not only for abortion but to help emphasize and support safe sex and preventing sexually transmitted disease. On the topic of abortion, Planned Parenthood is not mainly focused on that whatsoever. Since abortion is illegal in so many states, how could a national company support an illegal act in Ohio per say? Planned Parenthood has a role in preventing unwanted pregnancy through ways other than abortion such as multiple forms of birth control. Sexual activity occurs among many teenagers in the USA, and if it cannot be stopped, then teenagers should at least have the option to be fully protected from unwanted pregnancy. You state how half the population doesn't support Planned Parenthood, but how about the other half that does? You make valid points on the negatives of abortion, but it is not someone else's choice to make if another woman chooses to terminate her unwanted pregnancy: she deserves to have the decision.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you and 42% of Americans that believe citizens should have the choice to fund planned parenthood or not. Personally, I would opt out of funding it because I don't support abortion, also I don't support the crazy amount of money given to this organization when it could be used for more useful purposes. While I do think planned parenthood is good for girls that unexpectedly became pregnant and are looking for guidance and advice, I don't think it's right to have such a huge organization made for killing unborn babies. I would be in favor of this company if it weren't for the spike in abortion rates. Lastly, I definitely think people should have the choice of funding planned parenthood or not because in the end, they can choose if they wish to use these facilities or not. If someone has no desire to ever stop in to one of these buildings, why put so much money towards it?
ReplyDeleteVery few right now are against safe sex education, STD education, or procedures done to assist with breast cancer or STD’s. Both are vital to the well being of millions of Americans. That’s not the issue here; the issue here is Planned Parenthood’s self reported 327,653 abortions performed in just one year. People are furious at the fact that they are, through taxes, essentially funding murder. This is the most vile institution in America, murdering defenseless children without stopping to think gee, maybe we’re doing something wrong here. I dare you to look up pictures of aborted fetuses and tell me they’re not human beings, not children. I dare you.
ReplyDeleteWhy don’t we just create a seperate institution that doesn’t provide abortion services, but everything else. Let’s move the abortions (they’re likely not going to be illegal in the foreseable future) over to private hospitals.
Morals of abortion aside, most can agree that the services provided by Planned Parenthood are beneficial to society. However, many of these beneficial services can be easily provided elsewhere, essentially rendering Planned Parenthood useless. One of the most utilized services provided by PP is their STD education and procedures. STD education can easily be delegated to schools, as it has been done with ours. Only a fraction of the funds given to PP would be necessary for additional sex education. Furthermore, with the advent of Obamacare, many of the other services offered by PP can be provided by other health organizations, once again rendering PP useless. Therefore, I feel the most ideal scenario would be the erasure of PP and the reallocation of the funds to schooling and healthcare that is also more accessible to a majority of people.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with the idea that planned parenthood is an beneficial with the idea of STD and safe sex education and procedures helping women with cancer and such things but I also believe the people paying for this program should have a choice. Many people, if given this choice, would definitely not agree to fund it as many disapprove of the 327,653 abortions as Alex said in a comment above. Carson had a good point in his comment as he said that Planned Parenthood could easily be spread throughout separate programs such as Sex Ed and STD education in schools and letting private hospitals deal with the abortion situation. This would cause a simple settle to the dispute as the people for Planned Parenthood could still support their opinions, by funding more schools or making private payments, on these topics and others are not giving their money to those they do not support.
ReplyDeleteMost services provided by planned parenthood are undeniably beneficial to society, with the exception of abortion. In my opinion, the government is very inefficient at pretty much everything, so I am usually in favor of limiting government programs. In this case, I think many of the services from planned parenthood can be moved to other health institutions and the educational aspects can be moved to schools. As for the public funding of all of these services, I think the educational aspects of planned parenthood should be paid for by the public and the other services should not be paid by the public, because the problems the services solve can be avoided by making smart decisions by people old enough to make those smart decisions.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to abortion, it should in no way be legal to allow people to arbitrarily define was is and what isn't life based on personal convenience. Abortion is a stain on the American legal and moral systems and should not be tolerated, let alone publicly funded.
While I won’t go into my stance on certain services that planned parenthood provides, I do believe that Planned Parenthood provides invaluable services to communities. This may not be very apparent in the rather wealthy suburbs of Pewaukee, but inner-city areas house people who cannot afford birth control nor are they provided information on the prevention of STDs. This is where planned parenthood comes in. Yes, planned parenthood provides services that not everyone may agree with, but taxpayers in a mixed economy do not always get to pick and chose what they fund with taxes. However, if planned parenthood were to be defunded by the government, there needs to be some sort of replacement. Schools would need to step up their sexual education and insurance and clinics would need to adjust policies on birth control. There is also the matter of abortion. Planned Parenthood provides safe abortion to those who seek it, closing planned parenthood won’t stop abortions, but it will stop safe healthy abortions because those women will find some “back door” unsafe clinic for this procedure. Planned parenthood provides valuable, safe services to the communities it serves and should continue to be funded.
ReplyDeleteBecause the most controversial service provided by Planned Parenthood is clearly abortion, one possible solution could be continuing to fund the program as a whole, but restructuring their finance system so that people would directly pay for their own abortion. While the ethical question of abortion remains, at least taxpayers wouldn't have to feel as though they are paying for something that is contrary to their beliefs. Most people seem to agree that the other services provided by planned parenthood are beneficial and necessary to society. Delegating these responsibilities to schools could be a problem, especially when areas with notoriously inadequate public schools also happen to be the communities with the greatest need for Planned Parenthood. Enough people are supportive of Planned Parenthood that it should not be immediately removed, but there are enough issues that changes are necessary.
ReplyDeletePlanned Parenthood has become quite controversial in the last few years because of the services they provide. Although abortion is a part of their services, it is not the only thing that they do. Planned Parenthood helps families with birth control and other health needs. Being in a mixed economy, we don’t choose what we pay our taxes for. For example, some people don’t believe in college education, but a lot of taxes goes towards the education sector. So, just because some of the population my not agree, doesn’t mean programs should be cut entirely. Abortion is controversial, and as I refrain from saying my personal views on this matter, I do say that it should not be the deciding factor. Planned Parenthood does a whole lot more than just this one service and so it should not be defunded because of that. They provide safe and healthy services to their patients and so defunding this program would only increase unsafe behaviors and more controversy than there already is.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your statement "taxpayers are being forced to put forth their money toward an organization in which they do not support". This should not happen between organizations and foundations. I agree also that over the years because of this, the foundation increased their funds. Planet Parenthood is a great organization where mostly c f females go to have support. People shouldn't have to be forced to donate people should want to donate with no problem and so the demand for money from contributes shouldn't be that high as it is when trying to prevent disease and /or pregnancy.
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