War On Women: It’s Better To Have Teen Moms Than Fund Planned Parenthood

We’ve seen a lot of focus in the states on legislatures attempting to remove funding from Planned Parenthood to “defund abortion,” and the collateral damage being caused to programs ranging from birth control to STI tests and treatments, and even sexual education programs.

New Jersey was one of the pioneers of the “defund Planned Parenthood” movement, with Republican Governor Chris Christie making eliminating family planning funding a key budgetary issue back in 2010, before the Pence Amendment became a household name. Now the senate has for the third time pushed for an amendment to restore over $7 million in funding, despite being vetoed by the governor twice before. The senate Democrats of New Jersey also added in an additional $1 million in funding for low income women that would be federally matched with $9 million in Medicaid money in an attempt to improve birth control access for women struggling with poverty.

Republicans and anti-abortion activists have once more responded with the “money is fungible” argument, declaring any return of the cut funding would be a silent support for abortions. Rather than see a penny go to Planned Parenthood, despite the fact that the money explicitly will be accounted for to prove it was not used for abortions, the conservatives are willing to leave the $9 million in federal funds untouched, even knowing the drastic amount that family planning would actually save the state. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that restoring the pulled funds and doing the match would provide healthcare for 80,000 low income residents, prevent 4,000 abortions a year, and prevent 6,000 unwanted pregnancies.

But then again, it depends how you define “unwanted,” doesn’t it? Take a look at North Carolina, where the state’s zeal to ensure that Planned Parenthood did not receive any state money meant, among other things, ending a program that would support teen mothers and help them stay in school. The Star News online reports that the program, which encourages young women who are pregnant or young moms, providing them with assistance for their schooling as well as counsels them on how to not get pregnant a second time, was axed because it was a grant provided to Planned Parenthood. One legislator argued that Planned Parenthood should not be “rewarded” for their past of “racism” and eugenics, blindly ignoring the fact that a majority of the young women being assisted by the program that he wanted cut were African Americans that he apparently has no concern about assisting out of a cycle of pregnancy and lack of opportunity.

When you get down to it, removing birth control and removing access to abortion is all about controlling a particular segment of the population, poor women, usually with less education, often women of color. As the latest abortion numbers tell us, women with income levels below $18,000 annually are now procuring 42 percent of all abortions as of 2008. They are getting the majority of abortions because they have the least amount of access to affordable birth control and the least ability to be able to afford to care for a child. And this is before the Republicans began cutting off family planning funds out of a misplaced mission to “stop funding abortions” followed by a passion for cutting every social safety program meant to help women raise the children they give birth to.

Now, with even less affordable birth control, the GOP has answered the increase in abortions by trying to make them less available and more expensive, attempting to “encourage” women to give birth by cutting off any option to do otherwise, while instead decimating any helping hand to get her, and the family they forced her to birth, out of the cycle of poverty that contributed to her unplanned pregnancies in the first place.

Don’t give a woman affordable birth control, make abortion too hard and expensive, lower or eliminate her financial assistance after birth so she cannot afford birth control and watch it all happen again? How can anyone see this as anything other than a war on women?

Take Action: Tell Congress to end the war on women.

Photo by File photo, Canwest News Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Ed G.

4:25PM PDT on Jul 31, 2011

Karla R. That is the problem here. The Christians want it both ways. So what is one to do sit back and let them have it? I don't want to paraphrase anyone but just remember someday they will come for you.

send a green star

jane r.

7:51AM PDT on Jul 29, 2011

individual choice is the only real solution. walk a mile in someone's shoes before you comment.

April T.

5:52PM PDT on Jun 17, 2011

No one can make the choice for another woman! Women are free to choose when to have children, if to have children and how many!

Karla R.

9:13PM PDT on Jun 10, 2011

Wanting a group of people to burn because of their beliefs is somewhat hypocritical in that we all have differences. If we could learn to respect that difference and not impose our own personal values on others, this world in general and this site in particular would be much more enjoyable and productive.

9:04PM PDT on Jun 10, 2011

Shelly,
Please consider "brake his neck" as a euphemism for hounding him. My grandson is so very precious to me and I would never cause him any harm. I try to protect him even from himself. He's 6'3, has his brown belt in karate and is more than capable of protecting himself physically. I am 5'2. It's sad that they intentionally became pregnant at this time as neither has much to offer a child. They are kids themselves.

Shelley Renee R.

10:27AM PDT on Jun 6, 2011

Karla, its really sad that your grandson did this, but even sadder to hear you say you will BREAK his neck! Wow!

10:25AM PDT on Jun 6, 2011

Mitch..you are the epitomy of HATE speech! Shame on you. You are a hypocrite!
Jane, you need to grow up! What does me having four names have anything to do with anything except for you to have an excuse to be repugnant?

Mitch F.

11:55PM PDT on May 30, 2011

I wish their was a hell so the Christians could burn in it

2:14PM PDT on May 29, 2011

Simply put its the parents and the teens fault.
Now we can yell all we want about whose fault it is and it will not make a bit of difference and babies will continue to be made. The christians are attemptiing to project their beliefs on everyone else and are using politics to influence thier beliefs.
I do not have a solution other than kids being forced to go through sex education and then a sex 102 - marriage and kids.
Perhaps if they and I mean BOTH male and female were forced to experience parenthood they would take more of a pesponsible part in planning. But this won't happen until the christians are kept as far away from the education system as is possible. Fine if their kids do not go through 101 and 102 then its the parents responsibility to take the consequinces.

Manuela C.

8:05AM PDT on May 28, 2011

Signed!