Planned Parenthood Clinics are Closing  

There has been a significant amount of controversy surrounding contraception and abortion. In today’s polarized political climate where people seem to be driven to the extremes on both ends of the spectrum, Planned Parenthood once again finds itself in the middle of a heated political debate. Planned Parenthood is known for providing a variety of reproductive health services to women, including abortions. The fact that Planned Parenthood provides assistance for abortions has not sat well with many people. Taxpayers have said that they do not want to see their dollars being used to fund abortions in the clinics of Planned Parenthood.

It appears that their voices are being heard. Now, many of the Planned Parenthood clinics are closing their doors. Many other reproductive health organizations are also struggling to keep their doors open. Even though there is going to be a long fight ahead and these clinics are not going to close their doors without a fight, women are soon going to have to go somewhere else for abortion procedures. While abortion-rights advocates state that this is unfair discrimination against the reproductive rights of women, conservative groups have stated that they don’t want to see tax dollars being used to kill unborn children.

It is still important to note that these clinics do provide other services as well. Some of the Planned Parenthood clinics provide services such as access to birth control, avoiding the need for poor and young patients to purchase it from sites such as Contraceptive Shop, screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), cancer screening, and treatment of numerous other diseases. The fact remains that women can go almost anywhere else to find treatment for these common conditions as well. Much of the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood has been with regard to their abortions.

Planned Parenthood clinics were receiving their funding under Title X. Conservative groups and anti-abortion organizations have come out in praise of the new policy. They claim that Title X was not designed to promote abortion as a method of family planning, but that family planning was meant to entail something totally different. Therefore, they have supported the decision of Title X to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood clinics, leading to their closure. They claim that nobody is taking money away from Planned Parenthood but that Planned Parenthood has forfeited the money on their own by providing access to abortion procedures.

As more Planned Parenthood clinics across the country continue to close, the fight is only going to get more heated. Parties are both sides are gearing up for another round of legal battles and grassroots campaign in an effort to win the hearts and minds of people across the country. It remains to be seen what is going to happen across the country when it comes to reproduction and abortion. With the upcoming election cycle, the number of ads and the nature of the messaging is sure to change.