Planned Parenthood; should be expanded not defunded

Found this excellent discussion of the abortion/planned parenthood issue. by Mike Spindell.  I've included some of his points here but I recommend his article.  The republican attack on Planned Parenthood is epic in scale.  Indiana, Kansas, Wisconsin, North Carolina and now New Hampshire joins the ranks of states that have defunded Planned Parenthood.  Planned Parenthood is the best resource we have in this country for sex education, disseminating birth control, women's checkups and controlling STD's.  But their forte is birth control.  We should be expanding Planned Parenthood not cutting or defunding it.  Almost 1/2 of all pregnancies are unplanned.  Of those unplanned pregnancies 54% end in abortions. [1.] Why would the anti-abortion movement create an environment that will create more abortions?  Unless, the anti-abortion movement isn't about abortion.  Mike Spindell offers some interesting insights into this notion

The abortion issue is not solely about a women’s right to choose, it is about the hatred and fear of women’s sexuality. There is a subtext to this movement, shown plainly by the actions of many Anti-Abortion supporters, that goes way beyond the issue of whether abortion is murder. This is not asserting my opinion as to the validity of either side in the Anti-Abortion debate.
...the viral opposition to Planned Parenthood funding and the de-funding of its’ programs by various States, comes primarily from those opposed to abortions. Planned Parenthood provides very necessary services to the community at large that government should support. Remember it is a private not public institution, cheaper in provision of these services than can be offered by profit making institutions. Why do anti-abortionists hate Planned Parenthood and other similar Non-Profit services?
...that women do not have the right to sexual autonomy and therefore are in need of punishment if they have sex outside of marriage. Therefore, women should be denied birth control counseling, STD identification, and treatment to ensure that they are sufficiently chastened for daring to go beyond the bounds of some people’s religious beliefs. This is the only logical inference to be drawn, and yet if one examines this logically this is highly inconsistent with the ostensible aims of the anti-abortion movement. If they were actually worried that abortions are murder of a fetus, then you would think that birth control, which would prevent many abortions, would be a good thing.The notion of female sexual autonomy is frightening to many religious people, since all major religions have a history of male domination. If women can assert their own right to be sexual beings, then this would also give them leave to assert that they are to have equal footing with men in all respects, including in marriage and worship. This would represent such a radical revolution of ideas to those of religious fundamentalist bent, as to create fear and loathing, which of course translates readily into hatred.

What Planned Parenthood provides to the community

[1.] the Guttmacher Institute

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