On Behalf of Women, Of Which I Am One

Okay, this post is a little bit late. That’s because when I heard that part of our Federal government was planning to remove federal funds from Planned Parenthood, I went into rant mode. And I truly don’t want this blog to be about rants. I want it to be an example of civil and reasoned discussion. But really, when I started receiving the first emails about this “budget cut”, all I could do was storm around the house, going “WTF????” And as more news came out (redefining rape, making it legal to kill abortion doctors), I spent more time going “WTF!!!!”. Now, time has passed. I’ve done my deep breathing. I’ve gone to my happy place. So I am now ready to begin my post.

Really, people, WHAT THE F**K? What are these crazies thinking? Do none of them have mothers, sisters, wives, daughters? I can understand a man who has never taken advantage of the services of Planned Parenthood, but surely most women know someone who has gone there for contraceptives, for HIV testing, for cancer testing, for referrals for mammograms, for Hepatitis vaccines, for flu vaccines, for testing for sexually transmitted diseases, anemia testing, cholesterol screening, diabetes screening, physical exams, high blood pressure screening, and more. And men, too, can seek help for birth control, male infertility, and testicular cancer. So why does one-half of our government no longer care about access to these services? And there is no need to get into an abortion debate. The Hyde amendment forbids using federal funds for abortions, and I’m pretty sure, since Planned Parenthood knows they are in the crosshairs, the accounting shows they are in compliance.

Now I know none of the men in my circle would ever support this atrocity (yes, that’s a loaded word, but by my definition of the word, this qualifies). Because these are men who respect woman, who aren’t afraid of woman, who don’t think of them as beneath men. So what can we discern about opinions of women as held by these men (and horrifyingly to me – even some women). They do not appear to be striking out against professional women, who are well-off. Rather this strikes against the very lives of women who are making minimum wage, women who are struggling to support children, women who lack job skills, who lack basic knowledge of their own health, who lack self-esteem. It strikes against women who are the least able to protect themselves. And I find it immoral, unconscionable, unethical, (fill in your own adjectives here).

I am pretty sure, based on my own knowledge and years’ worth of discussions with other women, that removing these services is not only a very bad thing for women, it is also a very bad thing for future attempts at fiscal responsibility, which seems to be the “goal” of this proposal. Since our government is very concerned with cutting spending, allow me to project several years into the future.

A woman, multiplied by several thousand, is unable to find family planning providers, or unable to afford effective contraception, and finds herself pregnant. Whether or not she is married has no bearing. We all know that in the real world, a poor woman is not likely to get much benefit from having a husband. Frankly, many of us middle-class women don’t get much benefit from having a husband, but that’s another post. The woman, multiplied, is now going to spend the next nine months carrying this child she did not plan for and likely cannot afford. She will get no sick days at work. She will get no paid time off. She will have to seek pre-natal care in a clinic which cannot see her for at least a month. She will sit in the waiting room an hour or more past her appointment time, because of all the other women who are trying to get care at the same clinic. When her delivery time arrives, she will be taken to a hospital by her mother or sister or a friend, where she will be asked to fill out copious forms, all confirming that she has no insurance and she is the only responsible party for paying the bill that may well be up to $10,000, if there are no complications. At some point, she may get to speak with a social worker, who will tell her about the few remaining programs which may help her get food for her infant or possibly medical care for the child.

She has now missed several days of work, possibly more if there were complications. If she is lucky, her job will still be waiting for her. If not, she will find herself unemployed. The last figures I saw indicated that the average cost of raising a child through high school is $222,000. Guess who is going to be stuck with that bill, multiplied by the number of children who arrive untimely.

Add to that the cost of caring for women who discover too late that they have HIV, and have perhaps passed it on to their partners. Add to that the cost of caring for women who discover too late they have breast cancer. And there are the women who will eventually have severe health issues because they could not get information, testing or treatment when they needed it.

And all that costs. It all adds to the bill that eventually has to be paid. Denying reasonable care at a reasonable cost will prove far more costly in the long run. Making life harder for poor women, middle class women, and their present and future children is not an answer. According to Russ Carnahan, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (Energy and Commerce? Did we just enter an alternate dimension here?) Currently no further action has been taken. I strongly suggest that if you are a woman, or know a woman, you locate the members of this committee and politely ask them what they are smoking. Not really, but you get the idea.

My apologies if this comes too close to ranting for some, but lately, there have been a lot of political issues that are making me rant. I swear I’m having flashbacks to the 60’s. I want to take to the streets with a sign, chanting “Hell No, I’m not letting you stay in office one minute more than I have to.” I’m going off now to find my tie-dye T-shirt and a doobie. The good ol’ days are back.