Planned Parenthood’s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Year
The past 12 months was not the best of years for Planned Parenthood. In July 2015, a video surfaced of a Planned Parenthood employee discussing prices on harvested tissues from fetuses aborted by clinic patients. Planned Parenthood and other health care providers regularly act as a middleman – obtaining fetus tissue from consenting women and ensuring it safely reaches the proper research facilities. For this, the providers are usually reimbursed by research facilities for the costs of the process, but are not legally allowed to profit from the service.
Instantly the video caused an uproar within the GOP and prompted many political figures to point fingers at the organization for what it saw as illegal, greedy and immoral practices. Prominent Republican legislators, such as Ted Cruz, demanded that the organization be immediately stripped of over 500 million dollars in annual federal funding. During the Republican nomination process, Presidential hopefuls like Carly Fiorini used precious debate time to make wild accusations about the contents of the video and wilder claims that the “vast majority of Americans” support defunding Planned Parenthood.
Despite this misinformation, Planned Parenthood faced even more trouble when Congress took up the issue of the federal budget in September. The early fall saw Congress in a heated showdown, with Republicans fighting tooth and nail to attach an amendment to the budget that would defund Planned Parenthood as punishment for its “illegal” actions. On September 18, 2015, House Republicans were able to win the vote to defund the health care provider for one year. As the October 1st deadline to pass a federal budget approached, it was important that arguments over this bill not cause a repeat of the government shutdown of 2013. Fortunately, Senate Democrats worked hard to filibuster the amendment and the legislation failed to pass.
This small relief was short-lived however, as the organization faced a violent shooting at a Colorado branch in late November. The shooting has even caused some to speculate that the recent media scrutiny and criticism of the organization may have played a role in the attacker’s motivation to commit the act in the first place. Many of the conservative politicians lambasting Planned Parenthood seem to be attempting to ride the anti-abortion movement, claiming the organization provides solely abortion services in this country. To the contrary, the abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood accounted for only 3% of its services in 2013. And federal funding for abortion is restricted to cases of rape, incest or endangerment to the life of the mother by the Hyde Amendment.
Despite this, Senate Republicans passed the bill recently defunding Planned Parenthood and repealing parts of the Affordable Care Act. To do this, they relied on the Congressional reconciliation process, which only requires 51 votes to pass legislation. The bill passed 52-48.These votes are largely symbolic “political posturing” though, as President Obama has promised to veto any bill that touches the ACA or Planned Parenthood in any negative way.
Although the organization has faced a tough year, it has mobilized many supporters’ nationally, whether in person or through Facebook profile picture filters. The presidential election is bringing the debate into stark relief, with obvious pro-life and pro-choice platforms on either side. Trump has said that he plans to defund Planned Parenthood if they continue to perform abortions, although he actually supports the other services the organization provides. His choice in Mike Pence as a running mate speaks volumes as well. Pence has been working diligently since 2007 to defund Planned Parenthood, with some minor success. As the governor of Indiana, he has severely cut state funding to the organization. On the other hand, the 2016 Democratic National Convention hosted Planned Parenthood’s president Cecile Richards. Richards was clear in her speech when stating, “Make no mistake: women’s health and rights are on the line and on the ballot in this election.”
Hopefully the next 12 months will bring better tidings for an organization that aims (and is known) to provide affordable and essential health care services to thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children in low-income families in America – people who otherwise would not be able to receive proper health care at all. The presidential elections could be a death toll or a saving grace for an organization on the precipice. Come November, the future of Planned Parenthood will be more certain. Until then, the organization holds its breath.
Sonam Bhagat is from Lowell, Massachusetts and graduated from Boston College in 2011, concentrating in Finance and Accounting. Sonam is expected to matriculate from Boston University School of Law in 2017. Sonam will be working for a large corporate law firm in the summer of 2016 and hopes to explore various areas of law, in order to better decide her course after graduation.
