Attack on Planned Parenthood funding isn't about saving money

In a move that is out of step with the sentiments of most Americans, the U.S. House has voted to block all federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

This is not job-generating, debt-reducing fiscal strategy; it is a retributive attack on women and women's health.

These funds have given millions of low-income women access to birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, pelvic exams and pap smears, high blood pressure checks, diabetes and anemia screening, testing and treatment for HIV and sexually transmitted infections. They support "Well-Woman Care" programs to encourage smoking cessation, reduce alcohol abuse, promote a healthy diet and protect against domestic abuse and sexual violence. And they support community education programs to prevent unintended teen pregnancy and the spread of STIs.

In 2010, these funds allowed Planned Parenthood's 21 Title X-supported clinics in Minnesota to serve 52,482 patients - the vast majority of them women over age 18 at or below federal poverty level. They seek to plan their families, continue their educations and protect their own health.

In spite of what the House majority would have you believe, these funds are not used to pay for abortions. Federal law forbids that.

Some of these women say they will never forget what Planned Parenthood did for them. They include Deb Zupke of Woodbury, Minn., who traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to make an impassioned plea to Congress.

During a press conference on Capitol Hill, Zupke spoke of how she and her two sisters would never have gotten the care they needed (annual pap smears, breast exams and birth control) if it hadn't been for a Title X-supported Planned Parenthood clinic in Mankato.

Zupke told of one sister who got the news in 2001 that her pap smear results showed precancerous cervical cells. After many years of sometimes painful treatments and biopsies, Zupke said, her sister is now healthy and, "against all odds," the happy mother of a six-month-old.

"She knows that had there not been the option to go to an affordable provider like Planned Parenthood, she would not have had regular exams and those precancerous cells could have turned into cancer," Zupke said, "and we would not be sharing her story today."

Many courageous members of Congress echoed Zupke's sentiments Thursday as the Pence Amendment was debated into the night. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., spoke about the hardship, humiliation and contempt endured by low-income mothers. She might have been speaking for all women across time -- especially of their need for affordable family planning services.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said it well at a press conference Thursday in Washington: "Planned Parenthood is being singled out by extremists looking to score political points. I can't understand why some in Congress have made it their priority to deny so many women access to basic health care services and family planning. Planned Parenthood provides health care services to countless women across Minnesota. I don't know how we would get by without Planned Parenthood."

Congress has very pressing matters at hand. It should address them, and stop this attack on women's health.

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Sarah Stoesz is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.

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