It is no surprise that Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit focusing on women’s healthcare, is under scrutiny. In the United States, the talk about abortions and abortion care has been a hot one, especially since the recent overturnings in 2022. Americans are divided on an issue that goes down to bodily autonomy and health care; Planned Parenthood is suffering because of it, and women everywhere are paying the price.
As a nonprofit, Planned Parenthood depends on the support of donations to continue operating, but it has recently been losing money at a more expeditious rate. A fundamental difference exists between defunding government-funded organizations and nonprofits. When an organization is defunded, the budget is only redirected or reallocated, but defunding a nonprofit like Planned Parenthood means “stopping Planned Parenthood from being able to be reimbursed for providing services to people who rely on Medicaid insurance or who are eligible for free or reduced fee services through the Title X program” (Planned Parenthood). A right that is even more under attack with the U.S House of Representatives passing a bill (219-184) that claims to shut down nonprofits that show terrorist behavior, which at first glance might sound appealing, but can be dangerous due the bill not requiring the Secretary of Treasury to disclose all the evidence that was used to make the designation, it gives them the space to close nonprofits with little to no evidence (Associated Press). Because of this, Planned Parenthood runs a higher risk of closure, meaning that all the people who use Planned Parenthood to get care, more than 2 million Americans, will not be able to (Planned Parenthood).
In 2024, 30 clinics in the Greater New York area could not offer abortions past 20 weeks because they did not have the money to keep up their detrimental abortion care. The National Abortion Federation (NAF), which runs America’s largest financial assistance program for abortion patients, is also receiving budget cuts. They said “that just in the first half of this year… [they have] partially funded more than 60,000… abortions,” bringing it to “a total of around $6 million per month” (Washington State Standard). They “had to reduce patient grants from 50% of the cost of care to 30%,” which heavily impacted many locations (Washington State Standard). Unfortunately, due to the types of care they offer, Planned Parenthood has built up a reputation for going against God because of the spotlight placed on abortion. Since it is in support of women’s and reproductive health, with the vast services it offers, the pro-life movement has used Planned Parenthood as a punching bag for its claims against abortion
There are two states where Planned Parenthood has been actively defunded: Indiana and Texas, where dangerous things have happened since.
After Texas took that step, there was a “dramatic 27% spike in births to women formerly using an injectable contraception, and pregnancy-related deaths doubled” (Planned Parenthood). Furthermore, when a Wisconsin-based Planned Parenthood was defunded, there was a significant increase in chlamydia and gonorrhea infections that could not be handled by other clinics in the area because they didn’t have access to enough specialists. In 2013, the Planned Parenthood in Scott County, Indiana, was forced to close, leaving the county’s 24,000 residents without a place to receive HIV testing, which ended up causing one of Indiana’s biggest HIV outbreaks, with 20 new cases of HIV every week, ending in more than 200 infected people (Planned Parenthood). As is obvious with the disparities arising from a lack of medical attention, funding is crucial for organizations like this to continue to offer the care they do because of the plethora of things Planned Parenthood does outside of abortions that are crucial for sexual health.
This is why it is so vital for the public to recognize the importance of Planned Parenthood and to donate anything they are able. Even saving $1 a day will add up to $30 by the end of the month, and those $30 will go towards helping people receive the care they need. It is so important to recognize that activists start small, and by investing time in educating yourself and the people around you, you can create a more accepting world where all people can thrive.