Berks County women hope Planned Parenthood will persevere

Women’s health advocates rejoiced last week after the legislation to cut all federal funding to Planned Parenthood was rejected by Senators. The budget bill that would cut Planned Parenthood funding passed through the House, but it was rejected by the Senate.

The bill, backed by Republicans, was penned in an effort to curb abortion services. The trouble is, Planned Parenthood provides services that reach far beyond abortion, and Planned Parenthood doesn't use federal funds for abortions. In addition to abortion services, Planned Parenthood is used by men and women for services like STD/STI testing, prenatal and pregnancy care, pregnancy testing, sex counseling, contraceptives, menopausal management and even general health care in some locations.

The majority of the services provided by Planned Parenthood are contraception, cancer screenings, and STI/STD testing.

For Douglassville residents Caitlin Benne, 26, and John Stipe, 29, Planned Parenthood proved to be the best place to go when Benne suspected she was pregnant. Benne said that she did not have health insurance at the time, and Planned Parenthood was an affordable alternative to her regular doctor.

Caitlin Benne and John Stipe discuss their reasons for using Planned Parenthood's services.

Benne and Stipe’s reasons for going to Planned Parenthood are quite common as many men and women lack health insurance because of their limited income. Birdsboro resident Janine Glassmoyer, 25, goes to Planned Parenthood for birth control and routine gynecological exams, because she doesn’t have health insurance. As a somewhat recent college graduate, Glassmoyer has limited income due to her mountain of college loan debt. Planned Parenthood offers services to Glassmoyer at a discounted rate based on her income.

Janine Glassmoyer gives her opinion on the possibility that Planned Parenthood might someday lose federal funding.

The same stories can be heard from women across the country who simply can’t afford health insurance and can’t afford to pay full prices at the doctor’s office. Planned Parenthood is sometimes the only place where women can turn to for women’s health services. But do the congressmen who back Planned Parenthood cuts truly understand what their proposal would accomplish?

Sure, Planned Parenthood provides abortion services as the congressmen who back the funding cuts say. But congressmen like Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) may not have done their homework to find out what exactly they are trying to rid the world of. In an address to congress April 8, Jon Kyl said that 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is provide abortions. The number seems to have been pulled out of a hat or something, because Kyl provides no reference for the statistic. Planned Parenthood says that 3% of what they do is provide abortion services.

According to Planned Parenthood, 3% of services provided are abortions despite the much higher number given by Senator Jon Kyle (R-AZ).

And even if all funding to Planned Parenthood was cut, abortions would still happen. That’s the sentiment from Albright College senior Sarah Conrow Bear who worries that women would still find less sanitary ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies if Planned Parenthood shut its doors. Bear is an advocate for women’s rights, and she helped to coordinate the newly founded Albright Gender Resource Center.