The government is in the news because of some pressing issues. Congressional representatives are voting to cut Planned Parenthood funding because some information about the president of Planned Parenthood was videotaped spending a lot of money having parties. On top of that, the congress leaders can’t come to an agreement on funding the Planned Parenthood program because the evidence shown paints a different picture of the program. On Tuesday September 29, 2015 conservative Republicans accused Planned Parenthood president, Cecile Richards, of spending $40 million on lavish priorities.
The edited videos that surfaced show pricey parties, first class flights, and fund raisers for the study of embryos, and that Planned Parenthood is selling the embryos for a profit. Although the official document presented in court said that the embryos are not sold, that they are purchased by laboratories that want to study them, and they pay for the shipment of the embryo not for the embryo itself. The hearing had congress asking questions regarding why they needed to spend the $40 million on non-women healthcare. Congress will have to come to an agreement on the funding for Planned Parenthood by Wednesday the 30th, if not the government could be shut down until they agree on funding or not funding Planned Parenthood’s program. Which means the national parks will be closed, the local government agencies other than the police, fire departments and first responders will be closed, and other important jobs and programs will be halted until the two parties can come to an agreement.
CNN.com writer LoBianco reported that “Utah Republican Governor Gary Hubert announced today that he would no longer allow federal dollars to pass through the state to the group, spurring the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah to announce Monday that it will be suing the state.” (LoBianco) It is a religion motivated issue more than a social issue, which has been a fight for many years to have an abortion or use Planned Parenthood services. The republican representatives have been trying to stop the funding for Planned Parenthood for years now, but there are democratic representatives that are pushing for this funding to stay. Democrats are for helping women in time of need whether it is, birth control, support for rape victims, abortions, or STD treatment and support.
The Planned Parenthood Association helps women and men with free to low cost healthcare. Last I heard, I don’t believe they run specials on abortions. If a women is coming in saying she wants to abort her pregnancy then it should be her decision, not the government official’s decision. There are people that need help from Planned Parenthood programs, and how I see it the government will be paying for the services either way with Medicaid or funding for Planned Parenthood. Every person, mostly women, have to think about the well-being of their selves and that of a baby, and some people have situations that are out of their control. Those individuals should have the right to do what is the best for them. Our country is supposed to be free, last I knew…
Works Cited
Edwards, Stassa. Planned Parenthood. 26 July 2015. Web.
Gray, Kaili Joy. Daily Kos. 08 January 2013. Web. 29 September 2015.
LoBianco, Tom. Planned Parenthood president grilled at House hearing. 29 September 2015. Web. 29 September 2015.
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/29/politics/planned-parenthood-hearing-cecile-richards/index.html>
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