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This is probably an issue you've already read about. This is probably also an issue only of interest to Americans.
Cutting funding for Planned Parenthood. The above link goes to an over the top emotional petition to continue funding Planned Parenthood. Drama aside, it's a petition, and hopefully it goes somewhere.
Here is a news article that sums it decently: [link]
There's been a lot of debate over Planned Parenthood. Mainly that it offers contraceptives and abortions to minors without the consent of their parents.
But there is so much more to Planned Parenthood than just abortions. They offer free or discounted condoms and birth control AND staff that will educate you on how to use them. Preemptive measures to keep from conceiving or contracting an STD are incredibly important!
Some day, if I am ever a mother, I want this service to be available to my child. I would much rather discipline my child for promiscuity than save them from the emotional terror of an unplanned child.
Not that all unplanned children are emotional terrors of course. But I've known too many people who are emotionally and even physically crippled due to issues education and contraceptives could have helped avoid.
Even my own overly religious mother told me about Planned Parenthood when I was 15 or 16 in case I ever needed it, in case I ever met anyone who needed it. When my mother was in college, apparently she knew a girl who tried to give herself an abortion with a hanger. That is very dangerous and unacceptable.
Disbanding this service may reduce the number of overall abortions ... but while that number goes down, the number of under the table abortions that can possibly kill baby AND mother will rise exponentially.
I can't morally condone abortions. I don't like them. But that is my own personal choice, and I feel like I'm picking between the lesser of two evils here.
Additionally, I hate that tax payer money is being used in this argument. I'm supposed to not be alright with my money being spent on abortions? .... MEANWHILE, HALF A PLANET AWAY, I AM UNWILLING FUNDING A WAR. Really?
Unwisely spent tax dollars coming out of MY ASS.
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I don't mind paying for this. Australia is lucky in that China's dependence on our Mining industry pulled us through the recession intact, so we don't have to make these hard decisions.
Also the way that we seem more 'liberal' than America- nobody likes the whole abortion issue, but the guys up top let us sort ourselves out. If only the American politicians could let that happen too- realize it's not their right to decide who has an abortion or not. Having control over your body is a basic human right, I don't know why they don't let women make such decisions.
I hope they make the right choice.
Regardless of my concern for my peers, Planned Parenthood also benefits me. It makes me feel better to know that when decide to take the plunge, I can do it safely without the cost, judgement, and embarrassment associated with getting condoms from a public place or doctor's office.
And as far as the abortion issue, I'm pro-choice. I don't condone abortion, but I feel that you, and only you, should be able to decide what to do with your own body. I feel that in most situations, the parents should be involved in the decision making process, though there are certainly situations where that is not possible. When the Suzy's situation would end in violence (or worse) if she told her parents she's pregnant, I absolutely think that she should be able to legally acquire an abortion without consent.
This program does so much for so many people. It provides an opportunity for everyone to be sexually safe, regardless of position or age. In a country that does so little for its citizens' health, I think Planned Parenthood is essential. Then again, I also think that of the education system, and its budget is being slashed every year. :/
You said exactly what I think of the matter, and beautifully at that. People who think abortions are wrong and want to, essentially, criminalize legal, safe abortions are only encouraging what happens around the world (and has happened for a long time, if I remember correct).. women endangering themselves by under-the-table or do-it-yourself methods.
I may not have needed anything like PP (or its equivalent here in BC) personally but support the availability for people who need guidance on anything to do with sexuality or pregnancy, and exams for those who need it. And I'm pro-choice, but I can respect the views/reasoning of pro-life too, to some degree if they can respect me as well. (It's not as if I think anyone should think getting an abortion because of careless sex is the easy out.)
It's just.. augh. I don't understand how anyone anti-abortion [since it's the most controversial topic in PP, I think?] can't stop to think that it will stop abortions, to do this. It won't. It will just make them more dangerous when they happen anyway. Sigh..
Have you see Rep. Jackie Speier's response to the proposal? [link]!5764286/congresswoman-terrifies-republican-males-with-her-abortion-story It amazed me, because I think it takes a lot of guts to admit in a public forum (especially that one, where you know a lot of people probably judged her differently after this).
But she made a very good point; many abortions are not decisions made cavalierly. They are often very hard decisions, and clearly something the woman continues to think about years later. While PP does offer them to women, they also do their best to offer everything they can to keep as many women as possible from even getting pregnant. But if in the end it happens, women still have options.
No, it's not perfect, but I've yet to see a government program that is. All of them really can be abused or can screw up horribly. FEMA's not known for their stellar track record, but no one in Congress is really crying out for them to be completely abolished.
Plus, with the economy as it is, I'd like PP to stick around so my parents wouldn't have to worry about paying for my sister's birth control when they have other, more pressing financial problems. :/
Just keep in mind that there are more sides to this story. As someone who's soon to be a full fledged adult, I'm worried about this particular cut, too, but I know that it's a necessary step to help the country in the long run.
Why is it everytime I turn around it seems the only people who's opinion counts are the "men in power" and they are trying to screw the rest of us.