The Virginia House of Delegates recently passed a vote on party lines that would cut all government funds for Planned Parenthood. This follows from a long-held conservative maxim that government funds for Planned Parenthood mean government funds for abortions. This is true in the most technical sense — Planned Parenthood does offer abortion as one of their services. I understand that for many people the argument stops there, that any support for an organization that would kill a fetus is categorically wrong. But I hope that even people that are ardently pro-life realize and accept the costs of their convictions. Defunding Planned Parenthood will only create more abortions and is only productive in the sense that it panders to the pro-life base.
Let us logically walk through what would happen if Planned Parenthood is defunded in Virginia. Barring a massive influx of donations, which is likely, Planned Parenthood would either have to start charging more for their services or downsize dramatically. Millions of people rely on Planned Parenthood for affordable birth control and low-income Virginians would have no place to turn if Planned Parenthood was forced to raise its prices. As a result, women would lack reliable access to affordable birth control.
Many people are not going to stop having sex despite this and the risks involved will inevitably lead to many unwanted pregnancies. Because defunding Planned Parenthood would not ban abortions in the state, people could still terminate the pregnancy at great financial cost to themselves. Alternatively, they could go across a state border and try to get an abortion there cheaper — this is not to even mention people who are desperate enough to go to an unlicensed clinics. As a result, there could conceivably be more abortions than when Planned Parenthood was funded. What if they keep the baby to term? Some people might keep and love their child. But many will also give their child up for adoption, forcing them into a system that is deeply flawed and terribly traumatizing.
This may seem like a doom and gloom scenario, but there are facts to back it up. First, there’s the case of Texas, which defunded Planned Parenthood in 2013 and is already suffering from many of these consequences. Additionally, right now abortions are at the lowest rate in the United States since Roe v. Wade was passed. Most experts do not attribute this to the efforts of conservatives to shut down abortion clinics and defund Planned Parenthood. They instead assert that abortions are down primarily because of “improved access to contraception, particularly long-acting birth control options like IUDs.” Some conservatives point out that there are fewer abortions in states with more restrictive laws, but this trend does not hold across the whole country. Additionally, births have not gone up despite there being fewer abortions, suggesting that contraceptives is what has been really effective.
The findings of these studies suggest the best way to combat abortion is not restricting someone’s rights but giving them greater access to affordable birth control. This is exactly what Planned Parenthood does. The institution has probably prevented more abortions than any abortion restriction passed since Roe v. Wade. The Virginia House of Delegates should increase funding for Planned Parenthood and specify that these new funds cannot be used for abortions.
Defunding Planned Parenthood also disproportionately targets lower-income voters. Planned Parenthood is able to provide affordable birth control in part because of the federal funds it receives. Many middle and upper income families do not need to go to a Planned Parenthood clinic for birth control, but lower income Virginians have few other choices. There is also something I find very callous on proposing a bill that would hurt the most vulnerable in our state, the ones who are largely unable to fight back.
No one wants to have to get an abortion. It is an invasive procedure and even people who are pro-choice can feel upset after having one. In a perfect world, everyone would use birth control and practice safe sex until they want children. However, we need to deal with the world as it is, and that means a world where people make mistakes. Cutting off funding for abortions is only going to make women’s lives harder without providing any solutions. The solution to fewer abortions is to fund Planned Parenthood more, not less.
Bobby Doyle is an Opinion columnist for the Cavalier Daily. He may be reached at b.doyle@cavalierdaily.com.
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