“The Utah Bubble” is an idea familiar to many. Though naïveté does not physically spread from the Oquirrhs to the Wasatch Mountains and create an all-encompassing barrier between the Salt Lake Valley and the subsisting world around it, the metaphor is often appropriate. Last week, when Governor Herbert attempted to defund Planned Parenthood in the state of Utah, this bubble was more evident than ever. The release of multiple videos claiming to prove illegal activity of Planned Parenthood have influenced the country, with biomedical firms and Pro-Life groups taking action against the non-profit. However, only two states have been gullible enough to actually jeopardize Planned Parenthood funds – Utah and Arkansas. This action was seriously misguided, not just because the videos were edited and manipulated, but also because the cuts will have negligible impact on the abortions Planned Parenthood conducts. With all the misinformation that has been floating throughout the Utah bubble, the government and public have blindly supported a corrupt and unjust cause, and the health of women in our state is going to be punished for it.
The most disappointing aspect of the Planned Parenthood debacle is how blindly state governments and the public have believed the falsities that surround the non-profit. All GOP candidates have stated intentions to cut funding as means of appealing abortion in the United States, and the recent allegations about Planned Parenthood have stemmed completely from pro-life activism. This association between abortion and Planned Parenthood is completely ignorant. On their own website, the organization states that only three percent of medical services involve abortion. Additionally, that three percent is unaffected by cuts in federal funding. The Hyde Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1976, has banned the use of government money to facilitate abortion. Within Planned Parenthood, government money is used for cancer screenings, testing and treatment of venereal diseases, and administration of birth control. These constitute 97 percent of Planned Parenthood’s activity.
Our healthcare system is filled with injustices towards individuals of lower socioeconomic background, and this negligence has consequences. According to the American Cancer Society, 41 percent of early cancer deaths in African Americans could have been avoided if economic disparities were not present. This statistic epitomizes our current healthcare system – thousands of Americans are unable to receive medical treatment because of monetary restrictions. Planned Parenthood attempts to reverse this inequality by providing numerous services that are heavily subsidized by state and federal governments. Cancer screenings and prevention are among Planned Parenthood’s most common services, and detection of breast, ovarian, and cervical cancers have prevented the American Cancer Society’s statistic from rising. These cancer screenings, not abortions, would be sacrificed if financing were reduced.
The Center for Medical Progress, the group who released the videos detailing inner-workings of Planned Parenthood abortions and tissue donations, has been exposed for manipulating the videos. Conversations present in the films were so heavily misconstrued that the information conveyed is erroneous. In a video released on July 14 by the Center for Medical Progress, two actors posing as representatives from a biomedical company question Deborah Nucatola, MD, the Senior Director of Medical Services for Planned Parenthood. The video shows an 8-minute conversation, but the group later released a 150-minute transcript for the same video. A near three-hour conversation was cut down to eight minutes, and the information that was conveniently discarded proves the innocence of Planned Parenthood.
In the 8-minute video, Nucatola prices an aborted specimen between 30 and 100 dollars. Immediately afterwards, according to time stamps on the 150-minute transcript, the video then skips ahead eight minutes. This implies Planned Parenthood illegally sells tissue donations for profit, which pro-life advocates have cited as a major reason for defunding the organization. But during the omitted 8 minutes, Nucatola identifies shipping as contributor to abortion costs. She says Planned Parenthood has 67 affiliates and that some affiliates prefer for tissue donations to be shipped, while others pick up the donations. This is why there is a discrepancy in the price of tissues from abortions, and why there is even a price at all. Then, Nucatola explains that shipping costs are legally reimbursed. Planned Parenthood makes no monetary gains from tissue donations, and the Center for Medical Progress knowingly withheld that information in their videos.
When abortion is discussed, it is difficult to remain objective. The issue has always fostered a great deal of controversy and emotion, and the current movement to defund Planned Parenthood is no different. But the intentions of pro-life activism and the actual results it will reap are completely different. Stopping the expenditure of Planned Parenthood will not decrease the amount of abortions the clinics facilitate and it will not criminalize abortion in the United States. The procedure will still be funded by private sources, and it will still be legal. But the cease of government funding will decrease the amount of women who are able to participate in routine cancer screenings. It will reduce the awareness of contraceptives and their administration. It will diminish the emphasis on women’s health in our country. Supporting Planned Parenthood does not mean supporting abortions. Supporting Planned Parenthood is advocating for the health of women from all socioeconomic backgrounds.