Planned Parenthood

It continues to be my intention to stop blogging and turn my attention to other things, but when I have a sense of outrage I have to speak out. The continued outrageous and unjustified attacks on Planned Parenthood fits into that category.

There is only one way to respond:

Support Planned Parenthood by giving as much as you can.

You can do so by going to their site and giving monthly, which is best, or giving just once, or both.

As for me I have been giving to Planned Parenthood  on an annual basis since 2002 and on a monthly basis since October 2013. In addition to my continuing monthly contribution I just gave an additional amount as  a way of expressing my outrage on the latest attack. You need to do so also.

You need to do more. Circulate this post to all your friends and acquaintances.

Why should men care? If they know a women they care about, be it a daughter, a wife, a sister or a female friend, they should care. Besides, men are effected by unplanned for children as much as women are.

The enemies of Planned Parenthood want us to believe that it is all about abortion services, and yes, it is in part. Yes, it is about the right to chose. But what its enemies don’t want us to know is that abortion services is a very small portion of what Planned Parenthood does. It represents 3% of its total expenditures. See here and here.

70% of its expenditures go for sexually transmitted diseases/infections testing and treatment and contraceptive services. But its enemies are as much against contraception as they are against abortion.

But it does so much more!!! It gives pre-natal care so that we can have healthier babies. It does cancer screening.

If we did not have Planned Parenthood, an organization founded by Margaret Sanger and Ethel Byrne in 1916, we would have to invent it.

What is the latest contretemps about? It is about providing body parts from the remains of dead fetuses that support lifesaving scientific research. I find nothing shocking about that!!!!! I, long ago, made out the necessary forms so that upon my death my body parts should be harvested and used to save other people’s lives. The US Department of Health & Human Services devotes a website to the subject.

Selling body parts is illegal, but recouping expenses, which is what Planned Parenthood asks for, is permissible and necessary.

According to the Department of Health & Human Services, 122,720 people are waiting for an organ, 22 people will die each day waiting for an organ, One organ donor can save up to eight lives.

The scandal to me is that the burden is on people to opt in, and not enough opt in. It ought to be the rule that organs can be used, with the right to opt out. If you haven’t opted in please do so! To find out how go here on the web.

As for Organ and Tissue Donation for Research you can find out more about it here. 

The attacks on Planned Parenthood and the entrapment and distortions and misrepresentations are reprehensible - not what Planned Parenthood does.

Please don’t delay! Give to Planned Parenthood today!!! 

Get your friends and acquaintances to do the same.

Hillary Clinton

On a slightly different, but related note, I want to share a statement made today by Hillary Clinton. I quote:

When Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Frederick Douglass, and 97 other brave women and men signed their names to the Declaration of Sentiments in Seneca Falls 167 years ago today, they sparked a movement that altered the course of history. 

 “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” they wrote, “that all men and women are created equal.” All men and women -- incredible how just two words could change millions of lives. 

 We cannot forget the heroes who went to jail and even died to give women the right to vote, earn and keep wages, own property, serve in the military, and hold elected office. We owe it to our daughters and granddaughters to continue the march of progress in America and around the world. 

 I've been fighting for these ideals for my entire career -- and I want to take that fight all the way to the White House. Will you stand with me?

 We must keep fighting for equal pay, especially for women of color, who often lose out the most. We must fight for equal access to good jobs, good health care, and good child care, for the rights of women to make our own reproductive health decisions, and to make sure that every little girl in America can be anything she wants when she grows up -- even President of the United States. 

 The full participation of women and girls in our society is more than an issue of fairness; it’s also a smart way to grow our economy. When women aren’t paid fairly, families lose out on thousands of dollars every year that could go toward paying for groceries or rent, saving for retirement, or sending a child to college. When we fight for equality, we fight for a better future for all of our children. 

 Sign your name here: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/declaration-of-equality/ to declare your support for equality and pledge to redouble our efforts to finish the work that began in Seneca Falls. 

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