Planned Parenthood Fracas

‘A’ as in ah, ‘A’ as in abortion?

It depends on which side of the political fence you reside. If you are conservative, you are against abortion. If you are liberal, you are for freedom of choice which includes having an abortion or not. Actually, middle of the road folk have been pro choice all along. So it really is not liberal or conservative, just conservative.

Funny thing, choice is also directly linked to freedom. The concept of freedom is not to have any governmental force, rule or regulation tell you to do or not do anything specifically. Having an abortion is a woman’s decision; not the government's. It is a freedom thing, don’t you see?

Having any government tell you you cannot make a decision for yourself really ought to be the antithesis of conservatives. But in their upside down world they don’t seem to get that message. No, they equate abortion with murder. Interesting thought process there!

But never mind the logic. Let’s jump right to the political power issue. Who can make abortion the political leverage point to win elections and otherwise distract public attention from other important issues even if the abortion issue loses traction?

The conservatives feel they can manipulate this issue well enough to gain power elsewhere. So they do – manipulate the issue for their own gain.

That’s where Planned Parenthood attacks enter the picture. You see, Planned Parenthood exists to help women of all ages deal with issues that uniquely affect them. Not men. Not employers. Just women in all their gender winning wonder.

To have a baby or not, or when to have the baby, are life altering decisions uniquely affecting women. They can use help from time to time to deal with this awesome decision. Best if loving family members are available for counsel and comfort, but when not, or if in doubt, it would be great to have an organization dedicated to this sole function.

That’s where Planned Parenthood comes into play. It was started by a lot of caring people wanting to help young, unmarried women make critical decisions that would affect their present and future life. Mature women who wrestled with career decisions affected by child bearing also needed assistance. Single women wanting children without a spouse also sought counsel. Women with DNA histories of disease asked for help, too. Aging women who still wanted kids had their own set of problems in need of research and help.

Along the way, abortions became a stock in trade for the organization. It was not the only answer discussed by counselors with patients, but it was an option that belonged in the mix of considerations. Over the years abortions were advised as appropriate and if agreed upon by the client.

With abortion came questions of residual use of fetus cells and tissue that could be used in medical protocols for treatment as well as medical research. Nationally this whole arena became the subject of deep ethical discussion, debate and research. The jury is still out – do we make good and prudent use of unused fetal tissue to improve the health of others? Or do we destroy the materials for ethical reasons. If the material is vitally important, the logic goes, it becomes valuable monetarily. And that could lead to unethical ‘farming’ of the material by the rapid rise of abortions.

Smells of conspiracy to me, but then America is the home of conspiracy! Why we can’t seem to see a conspiracy exists between drug companies and health insurance companies and lobbyists, is a mystery to me. But abortions? Right! That’s the real home of conspiracy. Bosh!!!

At any rate, conservatives, also known as republicans, conjure up hate campaigns against Planned Parenthood. The organization is regulated within an inch of its life and is subject to minute inspection of its operations. Still, the conservative forces stoop to making up false accusations and videos to blacken the name of Planned Parenthood.  All the while they stoke the flames of conspiracy theories about abortion and anyone who is not conservative enough to ban abortions outright.

And while all this bosh is ranting through public media, public attention is pulled away from the Anti Nuclear Deal With Iran, commonsense gun controls, access to education at all levels of intellectual development, and elimination of student loans. Pollution, energy research, drought, clean water supplies, economic development and other key issues are also ignored while our attention is distracted to the debate over Planned Parenthood.

If any institution has earned its stripes with the public, it is Planned Parenthood. Congress on the other hand, still struggles to earn any respect at all. No wonder!

If there are any candidates left to be considered for the Presidency, please, let them focus on the issues that truly matter. We have religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to own guns and a whole lot of other freedoms. What we don’t have is freedom from politicians up to no good.

Now there’s an issue for public discussion!

August 10, 2015