Editor,
Many women gathered on Tuesday in support of or against the Planned Parenthood Rally, sponsored by Student Alliance for Reproductive Justice and the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance. It seemed like hundreds of pink signs read, “don’t take away our care.”
Is this true? Does Planned Parenthood really offer health care to women that they would be without if Planned Parenthood was defunded? As a fellow woman, I care about women receiving essential health services.
You might have seen Students for Life UNM at the rally with black signs. We care about women receiving health services. This is why we so fervently support Federally Qualified Health Clinics that provide more comprehensive health services than Planned Parenthood clinics do.
Currently, there are 13,000 FQHCs and only about 700 Planned Parenthood locations. These clinics offer low- to no-cost and high-quality health services, and outnumber Planned Parenthood locations 20:1. They offer men and women in any financial situation STD testing, preventative care (contraception), thorough cancer screenings, and unlike any Planned Parenthood location, mammograms and full women check-ups. Have you ever called Planned Parenthood for a mammogram? Not one Planned Parenthood clinic is licensed to perform mammograms.
In New Mexico there are only six Planned Parenthood locations, compared to the 165 FQHCs across the state. These six Planned Parenthood facilities are only in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho and Farmington. Do we expect women who cannot afford basic necessities in, say, Hobbs to make a 10-hour-long visit to Albuquerque and back for a breast exam or STD screening at Planned Parenthood? Women need affordable or free health care in every corner of New Mexico. Planned Parenthood cannot provide this.
In 2013, Planned Parenthood performed 327,653 abortions — 897 human lives taken each day. We all hear that only 3 percent of their services are abortions, but is that an honest statistic? This 3 percent is proven by the skewed statistics such as the pie chart on their annual report. A “service” is handing out a condom, a phone call or appointment. So they can hand out 100 condoms and do 30 abortions in one day, and say it is only 30 percent. See how it can be added up throughout a year? Can we really compare and equate a human life to a condom or a phone call? And to further prove my point, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, has just admitted under oath that 86 percent of Planned Parenthood’s revenue is from surgical abortions.
Imagine if our government redirected the $500 billion Planned Parenthood receives a year, and put it toward these FQHCs. After redirecting the half a billion dollars Planned Parenthood clinics receive in tax dollar funding, our nation can make bigger strides in offering vital health services for women in every area of the country.
Sincerely,
Sade Patterson
Students for Life president
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