The GOP's brand-new healthcare proposal mandates the defunding of Planned Parenthood, an organization which provides reproductive health services to millions of individuals every year. The New York Times revealed that Trump's administration offered to maintain Planned Parenthood's funding if it discontinues abortion services. Planned Parenthood commendably refused Trump's offer, which is why it is more important to stand by Planned Parenthood than ever before.
Planned Parenthood currently receives over $500 million dollars in federal funding and provides essential reproductive health services to over 2.5 million people every year. Losing federal funds under the proposed GOP replacement plan for Obamacare would be absolutely detrimental for the organization; these funds make up over 40 percent of Planned Parenthood's budget.
According to the New York Times, the Trump administration informally offered to allow Planned Parenthood to keep its funding if it stopped offering abortion services, even though federal funds have not been used for abortion services since 1976, when this usage was prohibited by the Hyde Amendment.
Planned Parenthood swiftly rejected Trump's offer for this reason, according to the Times' report, as well as because of the fact not offering abortion services lies completely counter to the organization's mission of offering the full spectrum of reproductive health services to its patients.
It's exceedingly important to support Planned Parenthood as they stand up for women's rights against the Trump administration. First and foremost, if you are able, donate to Planned Parenthood — and encourage your friends and family to do so as well. The organization is going to need a significant amount of funds to advocate against the proposed healthcare legislation as well as to continue providing its regular health services. Therefore, donations are absolutely essential. You can donate directly to Planned Parenthood via their website's donation page.
You can also show your support for Planned Parenthood by contacting members of Congress to express your opposition to the GOP proposal to defund the organization. This Planned Parenthood webpage will connect you directly with your member of Congress as well as provide you with a script to use when you place your call.
Furthermore, in addition to contacting your own Congressional representative, Planned Parenthood is also specifically encouraging people to call the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, to express their discontent with the proposed defunding of the organization; you can once again find a script and direct method of contacting Ryan's office on their website. Finally, Planned Parenthood also requests that people sign its letter to Congress to oppose the defunding of the organization.
You can also choose to take your advocacy a step further by signing up to be a Planned Parenthood Defender. According to Planned Parenthood, Defenders are "a core group of supporters who have said they'll give their time to defend Planned Parenthood, the health services they provide, and the people who rely on them — in what just may be the fight of our lives." If you choose to sign up to be a Defender, Planned Parenthood will contact you with specific requests and detailed instructions for completing whatever advocacy initiatives or tasks they need accomplished, particularly at urgent and critical moments.
Finally, you can support Planned Parenthood by staying up-to-date on its initiatives to counter the Trump administration, as well as by spreading the word about the importance of protecting Planned Parenthood. To access the latest news on Planned Parenthood's advocacy work, you can join the Planned Parenthood Mobile Action network by texting "STAND" to 22422. You can also follow the organization on Facebook and Twitter and regularly check its website for updates. You should also follow the website and social media accounts of the organization's related Action Fund.
As you follow Planned Parenthood's advocacy initiatives and its work to counter the GOP's defunding proposal, make sure to pass along the information to your in-person and online networks, as it is exceedingly imperative for as many people as possible to know about the importance of the services Planned Parenthood provides, including abortion, and the threats the proposed healthcare legislation poses to these services.
Whichever way or ways you choose to support Planned Parenthood, try to do so as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the proposed GOP healthcare legislation poses a dire threat to Planned Parenthood's mission and continued existence and they need as much support as possible in these very trying times.
