Planned Parenthood: How To Save Country's Money

American Taxpayers are the sole purpose Planned Parenthood has kept its doors open allowing low-income women to receive the healthcare and family planning services they need. Since Planned Parenthood has been funded by the Title 10 program, many people believe that American taxpayer dollars are going directly towards funding abortions through Planned Parenthood. What most people do not realize is that tax dollars do not fund abortions nor have they for many years. Even though Planned Parenthood was government-funded, abortions are not.

President Trump makes the statement that “for decades, American taxpayers have been wrongfully forced to subsidize the abortion industry through Title 10 funding” (Mckay). Trump explains how our tax dollars are going directly towards abortions and Anti-abortion groups also talk about how Planned Parenthood is collecting revenue. “Only a third of the revenue received at Planned Parenthood is from government health services reimbursements and grants” (Planned Parenthood). This is the opposite of what President Trump is explaining to the public. Trump is illustrating to the public that the tax dollars are going directly towards abortions instead of being split into other areas of Planned Parenthood.

An uncommon belief is that tax dollars pay for abortions. This is false. “Most federal funds come through Medicaid” (Planned Parenthood). Medicaid is a government-funded healthcare plan for low-income people. “The federal Medicaid program mandates abortion funding in cases of rape or incest, and if a pregnant woman’s life is in danger” (ACLU). This quote explains how Medicaid does fund abortions, but only on rare occasions. Someone seeking an abortion for personal reasons and is not in danger would not receive federal funding for their abortion. Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of dollars to help keep their clinics open and provide services. Whether or not federal money is applied directly to abortions is a state’s decision. Most of the tax dollars go towards the staff and facility costs. This money is greatly beneficial towards keeping the clinic running instead of paying for abortions. What many people seem to miss is that employees of Planned Parenthood are actually reimbursed by Medicaid. Back in 1977, the Hyde Amendment was signed which prohibited federal dollars for most abortions. People forget about this amendment when arguing that federal dollars are funding abortions when they actually haven’t been allowed to for many years. If for some reason the ban on funding abortions was lifted, it would create more abortion coverage. Planned Parenthood also does not perform abortions. They were only allowed to refer patients to doctors. This is the main reason they left funding.

There is a common misconception that “defunding” Planned Parenthood would save the country money. This is not the case. “Statistics show that the more public dollars spent on family planning services will save the government money in the long run” (I Stand With). If defunded, it could also cost taxpayers millions of dollars in years to come.

American taxpayers obviously want their money going towards things they care about or believe in. If someone highly disagrees with abortion and hears that their tax dollars are directly funding abortion, they would have the right to get upset about it. A taxpayer’s worldview would be the same regarding wanting their money to go to the right place, but different in the sense that everyone has different opinions and beliefs on certain issues including one as controversial as abortion. There are other situations in which a taxpayer would not agree with their money going towards. If someone opposed the war, they are still required to pay taxes that apply to military programs (ACLU). Not everyone will agree with everything. If taxpayers wanted to stop funding things that they didn’t believe in, people would eventually not be paying for anything. This would not be fair and would create an unequal society.