Let's Talk Services

In my first post, I discussed the history of Planned Parenthood.  I talked about one woman who changed history by fighting the Comstock Laws (laws set in place in the early 20^th century that forbid the distribution of knowledge about birth control.) and created the National Birthcontrol League.  What started out as a small local service in Brooklyn, New York, grew into one of the largest providers of healthcare in the United States.

Now that you know all the historical facts, I would like to discuss the multitude of services that Planned Parenthood offers.

A lot of people tend to get hung up on abortion.  It is the main reason Planned Parenthood is such a controversial topic to begin with.  Yes, the organization does preform abortions.  However, abortions only cover about 3% of the services provided by Planned Parenthood.

Here is a breakdown of the services provided by Planned Parenthood, which can be found on their website.

STI/STD Testing and Treatment: This makes up the largest portion of services that Planned Parenthood provides.  This is an important part of safe sex, which is one of the main philosophies of the organization.  Planned Parenthood’s main goal is prevention, which is the purpose of STD/STI (Sexually Transmitted Disease / Sexually Transmitted Infection) testing.  However, accidents happen, and in that case, they also provide treatment for any existing STI/STDs. 

Contraception: Another large part of Planned Parenthood – actually the reason the organization was created all together.  When people think of contraception, they mainly think of two methods: condoms and birth control.  While those are the two main methods, there a ton of others.  IUDs, spermicide, even Plan B are all methods of contraception.  In total there are about 15 different methods of contraception, all which can be found at Planned Parenthood.

Other Women’s Health Services: This title here is a bit misleading.  “Other Women’s Health Services” mainly deals with pregnancies.  It does not deal with the actual “delivering” part of pregnancy – Planned Parenthood is not a hospital.  But Planned Parenthood provides things like pregnancy tests and other prenatal services.

Cancer Screening and Prevention: Because Planned Parenthood mainly deals with sexual and reproductive health, they mainly deal with cancer inflicting those areas.  As mentioned before, Planned Parenthood is in no way, shape, or form a hospital.  But yet they provide tests to see if one has cancer and prevention methods.

Abortion Services: Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy, so that the child is not born.  This service is provided for many reasons, but more often than not, the mother is not ready to have a child -- emotionally or financially.  Each state has different laws on how accessible abortion is provided.  There are also different methods of abortion, depending on how many weeks into the pregnancy the mother is.  There is an abortion pill that can be taken if it is early on in the pregnancy, or there is the surgical method used when the fetus has grown for quite a while. 

Other Services: This includes a variety of things from family practice services to adoption referrals and treatment of UTIs (Urinary Track Infections).

Planned Parenthood’s main goal is healthcare.  With over 650 locations through the United States, it is one of the nation’s top provider for quality, yet affordable healthcare for both males and females alike.

In addition to healthcare, Planned Parenthood also provides sex education for both genders.

Now you have a clear insight on exactly what goes on inside Planned Parenthood.  Since Planned Parenthood is federally funded (although many people, mostly Republicans, are trying to take that away), they are able to provide these services to people who normally would not be able to afford such a luxury.  The whole issue of eugenics was brought up in the 1920’s because poor people did not have any knowledge about birth control, and therefore were having kids they did not necessarily want. 

In my next post, I’m going to be talking more in depth about abortions.  Since I mentioned earlier, it is the main reason Planned Parenthood gets is under so much heat.  A lot of people disagree with the practice of abortion.  I will examine both sides of the issue (Pro-Life and Pro-Choice) in order for you to have a better understanding on why it is such a controversial topic.

Let's Talk History

Planned Parenthood has had a recent burst of media attention in the past couple of months.  Sure, it has always been a controversial topic on whether it's practices should be funded or not, but lately there has more and more information released about the program.  And only a portion of it is true.

The purpose of this blog will be to educate you on Planned Parenthood, what it is and why it is seen as controversial.  Especially with elections coming up, and each politician having a different stance on the issue.

 

But first, let’s talk about the history of Planned Parenthood.  The program was started by Margaret Sanger, a birth control activist in the early 1900’s.  In order to fight the Comstock Laws, which were a series of laws that prohibited the distribution of knowledge about birth control, Sanager opened up a birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York.  She was tired of seeing uneducated poor women have children they didn’t want – children that would live a life of poverty.

In 1923, Sanager opened up the National Birthcontrol League – which would later be known by its current name Planned Parenthood. 

In 1936, Sanager is arrested for breaking the Comstock Laws, but a surprising twist takes place when there is a review on her arrest.  Judge Augustus Hand, writing for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ordered a liberalization of the Comstock laws, ruling that women should in fact have access to different methods of contraception. (x)

Ever since then, Planned Parenthood has been providing services to assist women in all aspects, including ones regarding birth control.  The program has been under fire recently because of society’s differentiating view on abortion. 

In my next post, I will be talking more in depth about the different types of services Planned Parenthood provides