Imagine a man having severe kidney stones because he didn’t drink enough water. The kidney stones were too big to pass and would tear parts of his kidney lining. He would have to get them removed for it to be a safe procedure. It was his fault by not drinking enough water, therefore the federal government deemed it fit to eliminate the treatment of kidney stones and he would be forced to pass them even though they could potentially harm him. He would not have the money to get treatment once he passed the kidney stones. The medical treatment of these kidney stones was prohibited and therefore he must undergo physical pain and potential physical endangerment, but that is the law that was passed.

This is the place millions of women will be if/when the option of Planned Parenthood is removed.

While Planned Parenthood has been a spotlight controversy for decades, the words of our newly-introduced president have sparked more tension. On January 24 President Donald Trump signed an executive order defunding International Planned Parenthood, according to CBS News. This threatens to remove the reproductive health care from millions of women in the United States.

A vast misconception is that Planned Parenthood pushes abortions, however this conclusion is wrong. PP allows women to access many different forms of assistance, including birth control, pregnancy testing and counseling, STD/STI testing and treatment, prenatal assistance, and access to safe and legal abortions. While it offers these reproductive health care treatments, many PP locations also offer anemia testing, flu shots, tetanus shots, diabetes screening, physical exams (for work and school or general information), and cholesterol screening, according to the Planned Parenthood website.

This foundation puts women’s health first. For those women that have little to no support in her family or others, Planned Parenthood could possible be the only way she has left to turn. The elimination of Planned Parenthood would turn millions of women seeking safe and affordable health resources away.   

What many people do not understand is that by eliminating Planned Parenthood, they are not ending abortions, they are simply encouraging the perusing of millions of unsafe and illegal abortions. When unsafe abortions are performed many things could go wrong. It could result in not only the death of the carrying mother, but it could also be unsuccessful and result in physical or mental injuries to the fetus. These forms of issues would endanger the mother and child at birth or the time in which the fetus is being carried.

If anyone truly believes that this is a good solution for ending Planned Parenthood then they are tragically incorrect, as it would take away the physical rights of millions of women. 47,000 women die from complications in an unsafe abortion each year. Globally, South America has the highest rate of unsafe abortions for women 15-44-years-old, according to the World Health Organization. South America would be a hot spot for abortions if they were made illegal in the United States, thus creating the endangerment rate of female abortion patients in South America to triple.

Planned Parenthood also offers counseling on sexual education, STD’s, sexual and domestic violence, and advice for your pregnancy or pregnancy prevention. There is no logical reason to take away any of these options from women. The women that utilize Planned Parenthood have every right to use it just as much as anyone else taking a visit to their general health care doctor.

If reproductive health care is taken away from women in America, it will be a very disappointing day in American history. This would mean the possible death of millions of women and if that is not enough to stop the ending of Planned Parenthood, then nothing is. Think about your women.