One of the most controversial political topics the United States faces today is Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides information and resources covering sexual and reproductive health topics. This summer, a video was released by an anti-abortion group that suggested that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal tissue to other groups for testing. Planned Parenthood has denied these claims and says that it has never participated in any of the alleged actions. Both sides of the argument have ignored much of the others’ statements and the recent allegations have sparked an ongoing debate surrounding this situation.
House Republicans have been trying to take away the organization’s funds since the video was leaked, however, in the past months they have not made much progress in doing so. Now, some state governments are taking action. Ohio’s state legislature is fast-tracking a new bill that would stop federal funds that Planned Parenthood receives (the funds are distributed as grants by the state), thus diminishing a number of health services such as HIV testing, infant mortality reduction, and breast and cervical cancer screenings along with Title X (family planning). The initial thought of defunding Planned Parenthood to cut family planning has evolved to become the defunding of a larger number of services.
It seems that Ohio’s ultimate goal is to shut down Planned Parenthood altogether. The question that arises now is: will other states will follow Ohio’s lead? And if they do, how will it affect the nation?
Is it right to completely defund Planned Parenthood? We will see the outcome as the situation develops throughout the country.
