Causal Argument

One of the greatest things about the United States is that we have such accessible healthcare.  Over the years former president, Barack Obama, did a wonderful job with the creation of Obamacare, which provides healthcare to millions of individuals all across the country.  Along with Obamacare, another very important form of healthcare that the country provides is called Planned Parenthood.  Although planned parenthood is known mostly for abortions, it provides much more than just that.  In an article on Planned Parenthood written by Jessica Lussenhop, she states that “The clinics also provide many other healthcare services to women, men and children.”  Recently, current President Donald Trump has spoken of defunding Planned Parenthood.  If government spending towards Planned Parenthood came to a stop, millions of men, women, and children would lose many healthcare services.

Currently, Planned Parenthood provides many different healthcare services.  This institution has developed dramatically in an extremely positive way over the last hundred years, and if it keeps it’s funding, Planned Parenthood will continue to grow and expand.  This would lead to even better healthcare for the people of the United States.  Not only do women visit Planned Parenthood, men and teenagers do as well.  For some people, Planned Parenthood is their only form of healthcare.  Fortunately for many Planned Parenthood provides so many services now that some are able to depend on it for their only source of healthcare.  Without Planned Parenthood, these people would be left without any medical services at all.

Unfortunately, most tend to focus on how Planned Parenthood is the highest abortion provider in the United States, but a lot of people forget about all of the other services that Planned Parenthood provides.  In another quote by Lussenhop she states, “In its 2013-2014 report, the organization said while it provided over 327,000 abortions procedures, that amounted to just 3% of its overall services provided.”  While yes, this is true, what people might not know is that this institution also prevents hundreds of thousands of unwanted pregnancies per year.  The goal of Planned Pregnancies is to stop unwanted pregnancies from occurring, so that abortions do not need to be performed.  That is why they provide birth control and sexual education to millions of women and men all over the world.  Without Planned Parenthood here to provide these necessary tools to the public, millions would go without birth control, and thousands of unwanted pregnancies would occur.  Planned Parenthood is vital to preventing abortions in the United States.

While many Americans might think that the goal of Planned Parenthood is to provide abortions, that is the exact opposite of their goal.  Abortions are only performed under Planned Parenthood’s dictation when the woman who is pregnant has a situation that applies to the federal government’s 1977 Hyde Amendment.  Author Danielle Kurtzleben states in her article that, “The 1977 Hyde Amendment dictated that federal Medicaid funds could only be used to fund abortions in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. However, some states have expanded cases in which they will provide funds. Currently, 17 states allow funds to be used for “medically necessary” abortions. In those cases that these states count as medically necessary but that are not permitted by the federal guidelines, states cover the cost alone.”  All of this information actually contradicts all of the negative views towards Planned Pregnancy that most people have.  It only provides abortions in very dire measures, which seems to be very reasonable. 

No, abortions are not a pretty thing, but what people need to realize is that they are sometimes necessary.  In some cases, there are such major issues with a pregnancy that it needs to be terminated.  This is very sad and abortions should never be a first option, but sometimes they are the only option.  Planned Parenthood provides this option safely, and with the government’s blessing.  Without Planned Parenthood around to provide abortions in a government approved manner, women are just going to go find other ways to get an abortion, which might not be the best idea. Many women would have to turn to illegal abortions if Planned Parenthood was no longer around, and illegal abortions can be dangerous and life-threatening.  Such a serious medical procedure should be formed by professionals in a safe and clean setting.  Planned Parenthood is here to make sure women get that treatment.

Planned Parenthood has been a trusted healthcare provider for many years, and continues to provide outstanding service to it’s patients.  Lussenhop also states that, “The organization’s earliest roots date back to 1916, when social activist and nurse Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control and family planning centre in Brooklyn, New York, at a time when contraception and abortion were illegal.”  This institution has been a trusted organization for over one hundred years now, and it should continue to stay that way.  Margaret Sanger, the organization’s founder, created Planned Parenthood so that women everywhere would have access to birth control and family planning methods.  She wanted women to be aware of their reproductive system and how it works.  The goal that Sanger had when she created Planned Parenthood was that she never wanted to have to see a woman go through an illegal abortion, or any type of abortion if she could prevent it.  Planned Parenthood was founded on the goal of trying to prevent abortions from happening in the first place.  That is why Sanger wanted women to always have access to birth control, to prevent such things from happening.

In conclusion, it has been established that Planned Parenthood is a key piece of the United State’s healthcare system.  It provides numerous services for American citizens, that would be greatly missed if they were no longer accessible.  While this institution might seem a little unorthodox to those who do not believe in abortion, it is important to look at Planned Parenthood from all angles.  All of the positive qualities that Planned Parenthood has greatly outweigh what could be taken on by some as negative.  Without this well established institution, the United States would be changed for the worse.

Works Cited

Kurtzleben, Danielle. “Fact Check: How Does Planned Parenthood Spend That Government Money?” NPR. NPR, 05 Aug. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Lussenhop, Jessica. “What Is Planned Parenthood?” BBC News. BBC, 25 Sept. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.