Don't Take our Rights: Fund Planned Parenthood

Throughout this course we've seen the many inequalities and oppressions that women have experienced throughout history. Women are consistently put below men as far as importance and representation in every part of their lives, including in the workplace, in the classroom, or even at home. However, with feminism and women's rights slowly but surely fighting for equality for women, I believe that one of our most important fights is fr women's health. Women everywhere have struggled to receive proper, timely, and affordable health services, such as pregnancy care, sexual health care, and so on. One of the biggest providers of these health services, as well as one of the most prominent women's health rights organizations, is Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a health organization which, as stated in their mission statement, "believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual's income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence" (Planned Parenthood, Inc). Planned Parenthood, more specifically, provides necessary services such as birth control, abortions, family planning services, sexual health services like STD testing and treatment, emergency contraception, as well as many counseling programs for issues with sexuality, gender identity, body image, and so on.

In the modern era the efforts by organizations like Planned Parenthood have brought immense success for women's rights economically, politically, and socially. This organization has allowed women to gain control over their own bodies and allows them to gain access to sexual health services which were previously banned. Women of all socioeconomic backgrounds are now able to live healthy lives that they control, however in recent times more and more anti-women organizations have began to fight for the elimination of organizations such as Planned Parenthood. One instance of this can be seen in a recent effort by the state of Arizona to withhold funding from Arizona-based clinics run by Planned Parenthood. In my opinion, losing Planned Parenthood in the United States would be one of the most detrimental actions for women's health and rights. Therefore, please sign my petition to the United States Supreme Court to tell them that removing funding for Planned Parenthood should not be an option, and that instead we should continue to fund Planned Parenthood to ensure the health, equality, and happiness of women, their bodies, and families everywhere.