Planned Parenthood has a very simple yet powerful response to GOP attempts to defund their services: “No way.”
In an newly released letter written by the organization and published in Marie Claire, it restates the same arguments many Republican politicians are refusing to hear. “Abortion is a legal right and a health care service that should not be shamed or stigmatized by politicians, especially since one in three women in this country will have one at some point in her life,” the letter says.
After Republicans released the bill to replace the Affordable Care Act on Mar. 6, it became very apparent that House Speaker Paul Ryan’s promise to defund Planned Parenthood is coming to pass and it’s going to hit low-income women the hardest.
The ACA replacement bill won’t allow coverage to be subsidized by the government, which would mean consumers would have to go out of their way to find a plan that covers it. And most likely, that plan will be way more expensive.
And if that wasn’t enough, public funding for abortion isn’t the only thing at stake. It’s targeting the private insurance market for abortions too.
RELATED: Sales From This T-Shirt Have Raised Over 250K for Planned Parenthood
Basically, if a woman wanted a health insurance plan that covered abortion, she and her employer wouldn’t be able to use tax credits to buy it. Tax credits are what help make insurance more affordable for many consumers, which is important considering how expensive abortions are.
Out of pocket abortions can cost from $500 for an earlier abortion to tens of thousands of dollars the for later ones.
But of course, Planned Parenthood isn’t just an abortion provider.
Of the 2.5 million patients that visit the organization yearly, one in five women have relied on it for preventative services, cancer screening and family planning. They’re also the leading provider of sexual and reproductive health education.
RELATED: Tracee Ellis Ross Takes on Planned Parenthood Critics
And you know what else?
“Planned Parenthood was founded 100 years ago to promote what was then a radical idea – that a woman’s body is her own,” the letter adds.
The organization’s founder, Margaret Sanger, and her colleagues went to jail in order to defend that idea. And whether or not the idea is still radical to some Americans, Planned Parenthood fully intends to do “whatever it takes to defend it.”
