Breaking The Stigma of Using Services From Planned Parenthood

Art 3170

Allison Aziz

Kara Szabadi

Civic Engagement: Planned Parenthood

Civic engagement is a very important part of our community and can be defined or viewed in a couple different ways. Thomas Ehrlich writes "Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes." The American Psychological Association writes "Civic engagement is made up of individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern." Personally, I think that civic engagement is the active effort to better a community's quality of life through education and promoting motivation within the community. That being said, I have found myself quite concerned with a number of social issues in my community, especially recently in light of the results of our 2016 Presidential election. My action for my civic engagement project is helping to break the stigma around using services from Planned Parenthood, as a step towards keeping their organization permanently funded.

Definition 1:
Excerpts from Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, edited by Thomas Ehrlich, published by Oryx Press, 2000.

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_defi.html

Definition 2:
American Psychological Association, published 2016, Washington DC.

http://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/civic-engagement.aspx

When I began researching statistics about the services provided by Planned Parenthood I found a lot of important and informative information about the organization.

• Planned Parenthood is an organization "founded on the revolutionary idea that women should have the information and care they need to live strong, healthy lives and fulfill their dreams". To be more specific, "Planned Parenthood is a trusted health care provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar organizations around the world. Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of women, men, and young people worldwide." (PP.org)
• Did you know that "One in five American women has chosen Planned Parenthood for health care at least once in her life" ? That is 20% of American women, or 31,400,000 women! (PP.org)
• Many conservative opponents argue that Planned Parenthood is mainly used by women seeking abortions. The republican party stated that "abortions account for 94% of Planned Parenthood's pregnancy services" (FactCheck.org). However, "these health centers provide a wide range of safe, reliable health care — and the majority is preventive, primary care, which helps prevent unintended pregnancies through contraception, reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections through testing and treatment, and screen for cervical and other cancers." (PP.org)
• Planned Parenthood also states that they "deliver comprehensive sex education that empowers all people to make informed choices and lead healthy lives." (PP.org)
• FactCheck.org wrote in response to the Republican Party's claims that "65,464 additional “family practice services” were provided to men and women, some of whom may have been expecting. Nearly 1.2 million pregnancy tests were given to women, some of whom may have been pregnant at the time. And 17,817 men and women received “other procedures,” including services for low-income pregnant women through the Women, Infants, and Children federal program."
• Planned Parenthood provides many services that are not abortion related (Factcheck.org):
• 4.5 million tests and treatment for sexually transmitted infections
• 3.6 million contraception related services
• 935,573 cancer screenings including breast exams and Pap tests
• 1.1 million pregnancy tests and prenatal services

• Furthermore, CNN writes that "27% of all women in the United States who obtain contraceptive services do so at a publicly funded health center that provides family planning services, such as Planned Parenthood" and that "it is the largest provider of reproductive health services in the United States, providing services to 2.7 million patients in 2013 alone". (Cnn.com)

After seeing all these numbers, all my feelings about the organization were confirmed if not boosted. What an incredible organization! They have saved countless lives in more ways than one, by providing a safe and rather discrete reproductive health care option for people of all ages and genders. I have a lot of feelings on the topic of women's/sexual and reproductive help, many of which stem from personal experiences. For example, when I became sexually active, I used Planned Parenthood services to regularly get STD tested. They provided a place for me to feel safe, both physically and emotionally, not being judged or ignored. I was able to be discreet as well as make sure that I am my partner(s) were healthy. I think that if it were not for Planned Parenthood that I wouldn't have been tested regularly when I was younger, which could have led to a variety of health issues. 

I personally know many people that are not able to afford their preferred from of contraceptives, and have been lucky enough to have access to a Planned Parenthood to obtain them. Similarly to that statement I made above, I am not sure that these people would be able to use contraceptives as easily and regularly as they are because of PP. 

I know the topic of abortion is touchy and the debate surrounding it is heated, but in our country (currently) women have the right to choose. Planned Parenthood provides this service to women when they are facing one of the hardest decisions of their life. Women should not have to be ashamed, and should not fear the financial burden of aborting an unintended pregnancy, and Planned Parenthood helps with just that. If a woman cannot afford to raise a child, if her or the fetus's life is in danger, if she was raped, etc, she does not have to go through with the pregnancy and have it change the course of her life as she knows it. This is something that is important to me as I have witnessed women have children when they couldn't afford to, as well as women chose to have an abortion when they were not ready to be a mother. I think that the choice should be left to the mother, and when she has made a decision that she can receive the services she needs to be healthy and safe, whether she decides to terminate the pregnancy, or have the child- Planned Parenthood helps with both options.  

Lastly, I want to discuss the organization's medical services they provide. Pap smears are absolutely vital to women's reproductive health and should be preformed annually. That being said, like many other services, a massive population of women in our country cannot afford to get this done. Planned Parenthood offers this service, and preforms it for hundreds of thousands of women. I personally did not understand the importance of getting this done annually, until I had irregular results this year. I do not need to get into the details of my medical history, but what is important to note is that my life was saved by early detection cancer screening. If I had never gotten a pap smear a couple months ago, I would not have known that there was any issue, as cervical cancer remains symptomless for a long period of time. I cannot imagine what it would be like if I could not have had this service simply because I couldn't afford it. I'm sure I would be facing much larger bills in the future to battle, as the cancer would not have been detected until a farther stage, when it is much harder to combat.

After discussing my intended action and some of my research with members of my community I found the following people who wanted to stand with me to break the stigma of using Planned Parenthood services. 

"A woman's right to choose is so important to me. The availbility of Planned Parenthood services is vital to all women is all walks of life. I strongly support Planned Parenthood." -Jamie Szabadi

Logan Drescher

Sabine Toth

 "I support the great work of Planned Parenthood"-Jack Ohringer

Zachary M Szabadi

"Planned Parenthood provides crucial services for people of both sexes and all genders to ensure everybody has access to medical services critical to the health of every, single, body. Planned Parenthood  is not a "women's health" program. Planned Parenthood is a human health provider." -Celestina Dimauro

Statistics and research were found from the following websites: 

http://www.factcheck.org/2015/09/planned-parenthoods-services/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/health/planned-parenthood-by-the-numbers/

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are