TO THE EDITOR:
Why I stand with Planned Parenthood today and every other day:
Because for every woman’s life “ruined by abortion,” I can show you another hundred who got their life back because they were able to choose how many children to have, when to have them or to not have them at all.
See “The Social and Economic Benefits of Women’s Ability to Determine Whether and When To Have Children” published by Guttmacher Institute.
Because for every pregnant teenager who didn’t receive access to safe, responsible and evidence-based sex education, I can show you another hundred who did and who have greater education and employment opportunities as a result of access to modern contraceptive methods.
Because for every woman denied access to preventive health services due to lack of insurance, I can show you another hundred whose lives were saved from early detection of cervical and breast cancer at Planned Parenthood centers. Centers that spend three times that of abortion funding on these services every year.
Because for every unplanned pregnancy, I can show you one hundred more that were averted through access to family planning education and services. Services that are constantly under attack by the same people who wish to make abortion both illegal and unsafe and who have threatened to shut down the government on this one issue.
Because for every so-called stereotypical girl in need of an abortion, the girl you think “should have known better,” I can show you one hundred more women who have completed their families and aren’t able to provide for more children. In fact, six in 10 American women having an abortion already have a child, and more than three in 10 already have two or more children.
Because for every graphic image of an aborted fetus you show me, I can find you another one hundred even more graphic images of women who have died because of unsafe abortion. The World Health Organization estimates that 21.6 million women experience an unsafe abortion worldwide each year and that over 18.5 million of these occur in developing countries.
