Wisconsin defunds Planned Parenthood; NineteenPercent breaks down the bullshit

Today, Governor Scott Walker signed the bill that will defund Planned Parenthood and other Title X clinics from the state budget. So remember the bad-ass video blogger on Beyonce’s latest song that was all over the internets some weeks ago? Well, we’re thrilled to announce Feministing has asked NineteenPercent to join the team as our new vlogger — and her commentary on the GOP’s attacks on Planned Parenthood couldn’t come at a better time. Check it.

Approximate transcript after the jump.

Last week, despite Governor Bev Perdue’s awesome move to veto the state
budget, North Carolina went the way of Indiana and Kansas and rounded out the trio of
states to defund Planned Parenthood.
But hold your horses cowboys and girls, this trio is about to become a quartet, and not the
kind with strings.

Thanks to Republican Governor Scott Walker, Wisconsin is perched to sign a bill
that would slash a million dollars from PP yearly funding, which could lead to the closing
of nine clinics throughout the state.

This is not surprising, considering the fact that Walker was endorsed by a group called
Pro-Life Wisconsin….who thinks birth control is a form of abortion and that teenagers
shouldn’t know anything about S-E-X.
Or they at least shouldn’t be taught formally…..you know, with accurate information.
Better to let them learn from one another, swapping bits of half-truths and myths
about ‘doing it’.
They’ll figure it out.

So Wisconsin has jumped on the bandwagon:

This is NOT a good thing.
This is a bad, BAD thing.

What does this mean?
It means that thousands and thousands of low-income and uninsured women, men, and
children will lose (or have to wait a ridiculously long time for) access to the health care
services that PP provides.

Do you KNOW how much it costs to go to the doctor?!?
I thank my lucky HMO stars that I have health insurance every time I get an “explanation
of benefits” paper in the mail.
It costs like a bajillion dollars just to get a check-up.
Okay, not a bajillion, but SOME quantity of dollars that I couldn’t afford otherwise, nor
could the average PP patient.

These provisions to pull the funds from PP came from anti-abortion lawmakers:
folks who don’t want to give money to an organization that provides abortions.
Fine. I understand this, but let’s be clear.
NONE of that money is used to fund abortion services.
You know how I know that?
Because for the past 35 years, the Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal funds from
being used to provide abortions!! !

Which, by the way, do you realize that abortions only constitute a teeny, tiny percentage

of the services that PP provides?
Less than 3% to be exact.

That means that NINETY-SEVEN PERCENT of these services are NOT abortions.

They’re things like: Birth Control and emergency contraception, STD testing and
treatment, Cancer screenings, Pregnancy tests, Prenatal care and all manner of other
important things that people need to maintain their health, reproductive and otherwise.

This is what I don’t get. Join me, if you would be so kind, on an exercise in logic.

You don’t want people to have abortions.
So you withhold money from an organization that provides abortions, EVEN THOUGH
this organization provides WAY MORE birth control than abortions.
So you’re effectively limiting access to birth control, which in theory would lead to more
unwanted pregnancies.
Which, also in theory, would increase the number of abortions!!!!

Way to think outside the box, guys.

In the case of Wisconsin, cuts to Planned Parenthood funding are being portrayed, in part,
as a cost saving measure. But again….and I don’t mean to go buckwild with the logical
thinking here…..but Planned Parenthood prevented over 11,000 pregnancies in 2008,
which saved the state over 139 MILLION DOLLARS that WOULD HAVE been spent
on medical coverage for these would-be moms babies.

Planned Parenthood is a valuable resource. Full disclosure, I’ve gone to Planned
Parenthood when I needed some Plan B and I’m sure glad they were there to provide it.
Because otherwise, I would have had a Plan B alright.
Plan B as in BABY!

Sadly, folks in any of these four states might not be so lucky.

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