Mike Pence has been relentless in his battle to have funding for Planned Parenthood stopped. Pence is of the belief that Planned Parenthood should not be getting federal funding is any form; not for their services relating to birth control, body image issues, relationships, sexual orientation, or sexual health. According to Planned Parenthood’s latest report, abortions account …
… for less than 3% of the services rendered by their organisation. However, Pence has stated: “If Planned Parenthood wants to be involved in providing counseling services and HIV testing, they ought not be in the business of providing abortions…As long as they aspire to do that, I’ll be after them.” Pence’s fight has brought the Pence Amendment to the Hose floor, where it has been up for debate over the past few days.
Yesterday, after being read descriptions of abortion procedures by representative Chris Smith, Jackie Speier stepped to the microphone to front the Pence Amendment. The video of her speech is above.
In my opinion, one of the most poignant things about Speier’s speech is that it reminds us that those who make decisions for us often have no idea what they are talking about. Smith is content to describe a procedure that he has absolutely no experience with- it has never happened to him, yet Smith, and Pence, feel they have the right to make decisions about those it may happen to. I can only hope that Speier’s brave decision to come forward and share her experience snapped those in the room back into their places. While it certainly may not change the opinions of those in favour of Pence’s Amendment, I hope it at least holds bearing on the way they decide to speak about it.
While Speier’s argument about Hibernia is somewhat of a red herring, it does remain that the job of the House of Representatives is to address the concerns of the nation- and Speier is on the money when she says people care more about job creation than they do about funding for Planned Parenthood. That isn’t to say that they shouldn’t talk about such things, but there certainly needs to be a focus and a prioritization behind the desires of the public. This is the job of the House- to take the countries’ most pressing concerns and address them. Far too often it seems that the government- possibly due to the influence of the media’s created perception of the country’s needs- wastes time on issues that aren’t as pressing as others. Yes, Planned Parenthood provides abortions. But not only are those abortions legal, but they are abortions that are not funded by tax payers dollars. It seems ridiculous to me that any time is being spent on Pence’s argument at all- either make abortion illegal, or shut the hell up. And as abortion is currently legal, it would stand that the majority of Americans want it that way, and therein, that the House’s time is being wasted.
So to summarise, Pence is arguing against funding for a procedure which receives no funding. He is arguing against something that is perfectly legal, and he is arguing against something he has absolutely no experience with. Sounds to me like someone should be a wee bit embarrassed of themselves.
Whether you are for or against abortion rights, I think everyone can agree that the government needs to prioritise the needs of the people. I think we can all agree that this issue is far more complex than an us vs. them format, and that those looking to make change in this country need to develop direct, and well thought out arguments. And above all, I think we could all value from considering the people who are actually involved and affected by the decisions our government makes. To some, this may be a moral debate, but to others, it’s their memories, experiences, and futures.
I will never understand how people can so easily turn a blind eye to all the good that Planned Parenthood does … the word “abortion” is like a red flag to a bull for so many people, but as you so aptly pointed out the “abortion” part of Planned Parenthood is minuscule. I will never understand why that microscopic red flag is so damn effective …
God, you baby killers are a never ending source of wonder. Oh, it’s only a few thousand babies. We spend the rest of the money telling kids it’s OK to fuck.
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With rubbers, it’s OK.
If you aren’t married, you had better be abstinent. Otherwise, you have no business yapping about it, Lola Bluenose.
Sweetie, I would have an abortion just to piss you off. :)
I’d make an exception in your mother’s case.
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U knew that was coming.
I’m still not sure why you think that’s an insult. Seeing as I am alive, and therefore my mother didn’t have an abortion….meh. Work on your insults, goatlicker.
Goatlicker – nice.
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I like the cut of your jib.
And abortions are legal! They are allowed! Why can we fund NASCAR and not Planned fucking Parenthood??
*Sorry, I’ve got my ranting-hat on now.
It’s part of a larger agenda to force women back into traditional roles so desired by Conservatives, plain and simple. I fear a situation similar to the one Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu created in the 1970′s and 80′s. He forced women to have babies and doubled the birth rate of Romania. Of course, the majority of those babies were not wanted and resulted in the rebellion that lead to his death, but I fear we’re going to see similar moves here.
Thats exactly what us conservatives want,barefoot,pregnant,and shut the fuck up and cook dinner.
I made gumbo! and I’m barefoot. But I don’t have enough time for a dog, let alone a child, so you can drop the pregnant part this instant.
I love gumbo,and intelligent opinionated women of either party.
or, you know, it’s a larger agenda to not permit the wanton killing of children…
There’s a BIG difference between not permitting abortion and compelling people to reproduce.
And yes, there are a few crazies that want more ‘traditional’ roles for men and women.
But that is far from all conservatives, and far from all of those opposed to abortion.
Not allowing a woman to have an abortion IS forcing her to have a child. Plain and simple.
And if the government forced that on me, you can bet I would get that fucking child out of my life and dump it in the foster system ASAP.
The government is not forcing you to get pregnant, nor to raise a child.
*Republicans, not conservatives. I know plenty of nice conservatives who aren’t jackasses like the Republicans I know.
Republicans and democrats are the same, sweety. They just use different means to the same end.
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Democrats support abortion because the majority of women who get them are minorities (PP’s founder was a proponent of eugenics an saw abortion as a means).
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Republicans keep minorities who are born in check with jails and drug laws.
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If you believe otherwise, you are a sucker, sucka.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA eugenics!
You’re more fun than a barrel of monkeys!
Most members of the progressive movement of the day supported eugenics, from Wilson to Sanger to Roosevelt. It was out in the open. What’s the problem?
You are misrepresenting the term ‘eugenics’ by not providing any context for it. Pre WWII, eugenics was a whole field in this country and Margaret Sanger supported it in the sense that she recognized women could not get out of poverty if they were popping out a baby every year, and that providing birth control would help stop the cycle of poverty by allowing those women social mobility impossible to achieve when they had 7 mouths to feed.
“Misrepresenting.” I’ll remind you that this is the Internet.
Touché douchey
Well written!
Please, no matter what your views on abortion, take the time to not only email, but CALL your state Senators!
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http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
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This is not a matter of abortion pro or con, it is a matter of VITAL services being cut.
You’re right, Blurry. I got distracted by the abortion bits.
*ahem*
Regardless of whether or not you believe in abortion, one must at least be able to recognize that Planned Parenthood is, in great areas of the United States, the only available source for affordable birth control options, solid advice about sexual health, STD testing, and a nice unjudgemental person behind the counter. These are valuable, necessary services. Married or not, the human race has NEVER not had sex. Telling someone that they shouldn’t have sex if they can’t afford birth control is stupid, because humans. will. have. sex. No matter what. Believe it or not, it would appear that Planned Parenthood actually wants to HELP people; I realize most Republicans can’t seem to get their heads around this because it’s not something they believe in, but let’s hope most rational humans understand this.
So I actually jsut had a run-in with a woman on facebook about this. She posted a link to this trashy site which constantly refered to PP as “The abortion business Planned Parenthood” and was praising congress for pushing this through. I know this woman becasue she was a childhood friend of my sister’s, but really, I have no clue about what her life is like, so I felt little compunction letting her know what I thought. However, I didn’t even do that as I decided I didn’t want to get too personal (I hate facebook attacks) so I jsut wrote: Planned Parenthood actually does a lot of good, regardless of your views on abortion. They provide STD testing and treating, Cancer screenings for men and women, contraceptives, care for pregnant women keeping their babies, and tubal litigations and vesectomies. Their consumer reports show that less than 2% of visits involve abortion and by law they cannot recieve any Fedral Funding to go toward abortions. Essentially taking money away from a group who provides sex education and protection would likely actually cause more abortions.
Her response was not verbal, she just deleted me. She didn’t even want to respond, becasue she couldn’t. It is true, there is a vendetta against Planned Parenthood and it is really very sad. Selective perception is a bitch.
You can get the word out by signing a letter to your senators on the PPaction.org site and using their handy favicon to post an “I Support Planned Parenthood” blurb on your Facebook page.