By Spencer Glassman ’19, Staff Writer
A debate about Planned Parenthood funding cannot be a debate about abortion and the question of its morality. The legality of abortion is clear: it is legal. That does not mean that the federal government should fund Planned Parenthood. Recent tapes allege that the federally-funded private organization Planned Parenthood allowed babies to be born prematurely, took their organs, and “aborted” them while they were not in the womb. Their organs, such as the brain and heart, were removed and sold to biotech companies to profit the organization. Not only is it inhumane and immoral to kill a baby once it is born, but it is also illegal, called infanticide. It doesn’t matter if the fetus was in the womb for twelve weeks or nine months – under federal law it is illegal to put an infant under once it is out of the womb. Although I believe Planned Parenthood should be criminally prosecuted for this, there is not enough evidence at this point to do that. What we can do, however, is defund Planned Parenthood. While the government does have a moral obligation to fund women’s health, it does not have a moral or legal obligation to Planned Parenthood. There are 13,000 women’s health clinics in the United States, other than the approximate 800 belonging to Planned Parenthood. Those organizations did not allegedly commit infanticide or sell fetuses’ organs.
The Democrats’ support of Planned Parenthood is hypocritical because they are very vocal against other similar large organizations and corporations. Planned Parenthood is actively trying to keep its influence in Congress by lobbying Democrats and other lawmakers. There will be a budget bill proposed by the majority Republican congress that does not have funding for Planned Parenthood, but does offer funding for another organization that is less controversial. There is no reason for Obama and other Democrats to reject that bill and have the government shutdown. The question is not if the Republicans should risk shutting down the government because of their disdain for Planned Parenthood over its recent allegation; the question is why are the Democrats so willing to shut down the government because they want funding for Planned Parenthood over other organizations. Planned Parenthood does not need the funding, and many American taxpayers – whose voices should be heard – do not want to give Planned Parenthood the money. Other women’s health organizations are in need and there are very few voters who do not favor helping them. A reason why Planned Parenthood might continue to be funded is because Democrats need their campaign funding from Planned Parenthood, as well as other unions and organizations that have close bonds with Planned Parenthood.
The people who want to fund Planned Parenthood with tell you that Planned Parenthood wants more research done on the human body and is selling these organs for profit. They may tell you that they are not selling these organs, which is false. We need to find out if infanticide was committed and we need to find out exactly why the organs were sold. The Planned Parenthood supporters may not even care if infanticide was committed because they don’t morally believe that newborns are worth anything yet. This may sound shocking, and you may say, “How dare he make those allegations?” However, there was an article in the left-wing British Telegraph newspaper that quoted Oxford doctors saying that newborns aren’t worth anything. While this view may be rare, it also may be a view that is expressed from Planned Parenthood supporters. Possibly the most common defense of Planned Parenthood will be that they provide abortions and the other organizations don’t. However, this isn’t a fair argument, because we have already established that the morality of abortion is not what’s at stake.
Planned Parenthood has a stranglehold on Congress and now is the time for lawmakers to act. It may lead to a government shutdown, but that would be because both sides could not compromise. Morally and legally, Planned Parenthood is wrong. The time has come for our country to enforce some laws, and the first step toward that is through defunding Planned Parenthood.
This article reflects the opinion of one staff writer, not The Minuteman as a whole. To share your opinion, comment below! Also be sure to check out an alternative viewpoint, by staff writers Julia Tarnow ’17 and Ellie Pitkowsky ’18.
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