I would like to explain why I am making this post in support of Planned Parenthood. As a practicing midwife, I want women to know both sides of all issues so they can make informed decisions for themselves. I feel that a lot of people don’t understand the big Planned Parenthood picture and how much their services support Women’s Health, especially women who can’t afford to go to a doctor for contraception. (You have to have a really good plan to cover an IUD fully, for one example.)

Planned Parenthood spends about  34% on contraception per year, 42% on STD screening and treatment, and only 3% on abortion services. During the last 8 years, in a democratic administration, abortion numbers have dropped steadily, to 25% of what they were in 2007. So Planned Parenthood actually drastically decreases the number of abortions performed, by offering contraception services. (this is fact checked, I have the source)

I also want to share my personal feelings about this. When I was an OB nurse in the 70’s I worked at a public hospital in the Bronx. The government wanted to defund Medicaid for abortions for the first time since Rowe vs Wade had passed. I went around my unit to gather signatures in support of Medicaid for abortion from nurses on the floor. I was warned by friends that I was going to get a lot of disapproval from these old-fashioned nurses. To my surprise, I found the opposite. My first signature was my head nurse; she was from Trinidad and kept her Bible on her desk. I asked her and she readily signed it. I was shocked; I asked her why. She told me that she and many of the nurses cared for the women who sought illegal abortions. They saw horrible infections, hemorrhages from uterine perforations and numerous deaths. Legal abortion has ended this tragedy. Abortion always existed in the shadows, but it was dangerous and shameful. Further, no one is encouraged to abort, it is a personal choice that I believe each woman should have the freedom make for herself, following her own conscience and moral principles. I learned this from the nurses whose experience of these tragedies supported their convictions