Why Wisconsin Should Defund Planned Parenthood
Wisconsin tax dollars have been funding Planned Parenthood, a pro-choice organization for many years. Planned Parenthood is the number one largest abortion provider in the United States and was founded on the immoral principles of Margaret Sanger. We need to stop the funding of Planned Parenthood using Wisconsin tax dollars.
One reason to stop funding is that Wisconsin citizens have no say in the fact that their tax money goes towards funding a pro-choice organization which murders innocent babies. Planned Parenthood received $618,100,000 from government health services reimbursements and grants funding which was 38% of all their funding in their 2019-2020 national annual report. (Annual Report 2019-2020) (Federal Government Does Not Fund) Most of these reimbursements came through Medicaid which is supported by federal and state tax dollars. (Federal Government Does Not Fund) Wisconsin’s 2021-2023 budget plans on using 6.9 billion GPR toward Medicaid. GPR stands for General Purpose Revenue, which is money raised by the state through taxes. This plan increases tax dollars going towards Medicaid by over $700 million in comparison to the past two years. In other words, Wisconsin tax dollars are funding Planned Parenthood through Medicaid. (Medicaid Budget Analysis) The Hyde Amendment has blocked federal funding for abortions through Medicaid, with the exception of extreme circumstances such as rape or a when the pregnancy threatens the mother’s life since 1976. (Hyde Amendment) Wisconsin only funds abortions through Medicaid in extreme circumstances such as rape, incest, life endangerment or physical health. (State Funding of Abortion) A 2005 study from the Guttmacher Institute showed that only 4.5% of abortions fall into this category. (BeMiller)
Likewise, a lack of funding discourages women from having abortions and using contraceptive services which in turn encourages moral behavior for our society. A total of $354,871 at Planned Parenthood went into abortions in the 2019-20 national report. (Annual Report 2019-2020) Abortions can cost the patient anywhere from $0-$1,500, depending on their insurance, method of abortion, and how far they are in their pregnancy. (Abortion Cost?) “Studies have shown that from 18 to 35 percent of Medicaid-eligible women who want abortions, but who live in states that do not provide funding for abortion [such as Wisconsin], have been forced to carry their pregnancies to term.” Since most women are not willing to fork the bill for an abortion, a lack of funding encourages moral behavior. (Public Funding for Abortion) While abortion accounts for 3% of the medical services provided by Planned Parenthood, contraception accounts for 25%. (Annual Report 2019-2020) Though standard abortions are not funded by tax dollars through Medicaid in Wisconsin, contraceptive services that can and often do cause the abortion of a baby/fertilized egg are. (Government Does Not Fund Planned Parenthood) All of the commonly used methods of contraception listed on Planned Parenthood’s website can cause an abortion. (Annual Report 2019-2020) (Can Birth Control Use Cause an Abortion) We need to stop Wisconsin tax dollars from going toward free contraceptive services at Planned Parenthood.
Another key reason not to fund Planned Parenthood is its lack of morality in both its founding and its current practices. Its founder, Margaret Sanger, supported the 1927 Buck v. Bell decision, which allowed states to forcibly sterilize people deemed “unfit” without their consent which led to the sterilization of more than 60,000 people. “Sanger’s belief in eugenics undermined reproductive freedom and caused irreparable damage to the health and lives of generations of Black people, Latino people, Indigenous people, immigrants, people with disabilities, people with low incomes, and many others.” (Opposition Claims About Margaret Sanger) “In 1926, she spoke to the women’s auxiliary of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) at a rally in New Jersey to promote birth control methods.” (Our History) My obvious first defense against abortion comes from Deuteronomy 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill.” (Holy Bible) But I understand that not all people believe the Bible like I do, to which I would support my view for pro-life with United States documents. The 14th Amendment Section 1 says, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The legality of abortion definitely deprives many people of life and liberty with absolutely no due cause. Unborn babies definitely have not committed any crime deserving capital punishment. (Constitution of the United States) Our country’s Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It should be self-evident that killing a baby deprives him/her of life, liberty, and happiness which the Declaration of Independence deems to be “unalienable Rights.” If the British’s disregard of these “unalienable Rights” was enough reason for our Founding Fathers to start a Revolution, then I think that Wisconsin’s disregard for our babies’ rights is enough reason for us to fight against state abortion funding. (Founding Fathers)
In addition, if Wisconsin stops funding Planned Parenthood through Medicaid, I believe that the funding should be redirected toward adoption centers and more affordable daycare. Abortion and contraceptives do not truly solve any problems. They only make more problems by killing an innocent person for the irresponsible behavior of their parents. If Wisconsin gave more funding toward daycare centers, daycares would not need to charge as much and would therefore be more affordable to low-income parents. Wisconsin tax dollars would be helping young families instead of hurting them. Let’s redirect that funding!!
Works Cited
2021-23 Health Services And Medicaid Budget Analysis, MacIver Institute, www.maciverinstitute.com/2021/07/2021-23-health-services-and-medicaid-budget-analysis/.
Annual Report 2019-2020, Planned Parenthood, 2021, www.plannedparenthood.org/uploads/filer_public/67/30/67305ea1-8da2-4cee-9191-19228c1d6f70/210219-annual-report-2019-2020-web-final.pdf.
BeMiller, Haley. Fact check: Planned Parenthood abortion funding, business claim goes too far, USA Today, 1 May 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/05/01/fact-check-wis-planned-parenthood-abortion-claim-goes-too-far/3057827001/.
Holy Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.
Can birth control pills kill unborn babies?, Christian Answers.Net, christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-bcpill.html.
Can Birth Control Use Cause an Abortion?, Abort73.com, abort73.com/abortion_facts/which_birth_control_methods_cause_abortion/.
Founding Fathers. Declaration of Independence: A Transcription, National Archives, 4 July 1776, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript.
How much does an abortion cost?, Planned Parenthood, 29 June 2020, www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/ask-experts/how-much-does-an-abortion-cost.
Hyde Amendment, Planned Parenthood, www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/federal-and-state-bans-and-restrictions-abortion/hyde-amendment.
No, The Federal Government Does Not “Fund” Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood, 2021, www.istandwithpp.org/defund-defined/how-federal-funding-works-planned-parenthood.
Opposition Claims About Margaret Sanger, www.plannedparenthood.org/uploads/filer_public/cc/2e/cc2e84f2-126f-41a5-a24b-43e093c47b2c/210414-sanger-opposition-claims-p01.pdf.
Our History, Planned Parenthood, www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/our-history.
Planned Parenthood, Owl Apps, www.owlapps.net/owlapps_apps/articles?id=503193&lang=en.
Public Funding for Abortion, ACLU, www.aclu.org/other/public-funding-abortion.
Revenue, Wisconsin Budget Project, www.wisconsinbudgetproject.org/budget-toolkit/revenue.
Rudowitz, Robin, et al. Medicaid Financing: The Basics, KFF, 7 May 2021, www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-financing-the-basics/.
State Funding of Abortion Under Medicaid, Guttmacher Institute, www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-funding-abortion-under-medicaid.
The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription, National Archives, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript.
Submitted by Sarah Davidson
3rd place winner of 2021 BFLW Essay Contest (Tie)