Soapboxin'

WARNING: In case you can't tell, this is going to be a post about the recent House of Representatives vote to defund Planned Parenthood. I'm no expert on the issue, but I have opinions and a blog, so here you go. Posts about shoes, food, and jewels will resume shortly.

My first thought when I heard the result of the vote was "HOLY FUCK." My second thought was, "No really, HOLY FUCK." For every person that's saying "calm down, it's not like they're making birth control illegal!", I get it. But they're making it expensive. And for people who don't have insurance, that's shitty. Pardon my lack of eloquence on the topic. I'm currently lucky enough to be under my parents' health insurance, but if I weren't, I would be spending a good deal of money to maintain my sexual health. Which really, is what every girls dreams of having to do with her money. My part-time job doesn't offer me benefits, and it's pretty difficult to find a full- or part-time job around here that I'm qualified for that does. Trust me, I've tried.

It's difficult to pinpoint what exactly about this cut makes me most angry. Could it be the fact that this is basically damning low-income and/or uninsured women to start praying that they don't get pregnant? Well, I guess that's a big deal. For now though, I'd like to focus on the reactions that people have had to this. It has been reassuring to hear and read all of the outrage that women (and men) are having over this defunding possibility. However, one comment that I wish would stop is "Planned Parenthood isn't just an abortion provider! They provide low-cost birth control so that abortions don't even have to be an option." Now, this is true. Some PP facilities don't even provide abortions, and they are incredible at providing affordable birth control. But what I don't think people understand is that by saying abortion doesn't need to be an option as long as birth control is available, they're halfheartedly agreeing with those that proposed the budget cuts to PP so that they wouldn't be funding abortions. Let's review the facts: no birth control, besides refraining from vaginal intercourse, is 100% effective.

I work with a pregnancy/abortion/adoption/all-around options hotline, and have talked to plenty of women who got pregnant while on the pill and using condoms, and one special woman who got pregnant even after taking the morning after pill. They did not want to have kids, so they took precautions. Which didn't work. So let's not fool ourselves into thinking that providing access to birth control eliminates the need for abortions. No matter which way you look at it, an abortion is a necessary, safe (when done by a licensed provider), and often simple procedure. It can be incredibly emotionally draining and life-changing for some, produce no emotional change whatsoever in a person, turn a woman into a pro-life activist, turn a woman into a pro-choice activist, keep a woman off of welfare, have no impact on her station in life whatsoever, and about a million other things. Abortions are not universally awful, horrifying, or transformative. Sometimes, they're just a five- to fifteen-minute procedure that causes some physical pain.

Am I trying to be cavalier about abortions? Certainly not. I'm simply pointing out that no matter how uncomfortable abortions make us, we owe it to women and ourselves to have honest discussions about birth control in all forms--abortions, condoms, the pill, emergency contraception, and the like. If we keep saying things like "well, I think low-cost birth control (i.e. the pill, condoms) is great, because then we don't need abortions", we're only leaving ourselves vulnerable for people to come in and say, "we're so glad you agree! Make sure you take your pill on time, wrap up your partner, and we should all be good! When you're not, have fun trying to take care of a baby."

Here's hoping that the Senate shuts this ridiculous shit down. I love my Planned Parenthood, and would hate for them to lose a substantial funding source.