Give Your Loved One the Gift of Health Care

Sorted under health, reproductive rights on December 9, 2008

Just in time for the holiday season, Planned Parenthood of Indiana has decided to offer gift certificates so people could give their loved ones the gift of health care. They came to this decision due to the economic downturn, saying:

“People are making really tough decisions about putting gas in their car and food on their table, so we know that many women especially put health care at their bottom of their list to do.”

There are currently 800,000 people in the state of Indiana living without health care and as the economic crisis continues to send this country deeper into a downward spiral, Planned Parenthood’s decision to offer gift certificates when a spike in calls and visits to the clinic came in from newly uninsured and can only help the lives of the people currently unable to pay for health care services.

The gift certificates come in $25 increments and can be used for services offered by Planned Parenthood of Indiana, including annual pap and breast exams, STD testing and treatment, birth control prescriptions, emergency contraception and abortion services. The certificates can be used by the many men who also receive health care services from Planned Parenthood.

When Planned Parenthood was asked if the gift certificates could be used for abortion services, they said yes, however, the gift certificates were not thought up of for that purpose, but to be used for preventative health care.

Gift certificates are the first of its kind by any of the Planned Parenthood’s 99 affiliates nationwide, but of course wherever there’s Planned Parenthood, there are various pro-life organizations and their dangerously out of touch views that don’t seem to measure up with that whole reality thing.

Mike Fichter, president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life is quoted as saying:

“The tragedy is that almost 6,000 fewer children will be celebrating a first Christmas this year because they were aborted in Planned Parenthood’s Indiana clinics.”

Sister Diane Carollo, director of the Office for Pro-Life Ministry for the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis said:

“They deserve coal in their stocking, not money for lethal gift certificates.”

Katie Walker, a spokeswomen with the American Life League said:

“It’s very typical of Planned Parenthood to pervert the meaning of Christmas, which is a time of life and selflessness and love and giving.”

I agree with Katie Walker her. Christmas is about love and giving and I cannot think of a better gift than health care. If someone gave me a gift certificate for the amount of a pap, I would be overwhelming ecstatic, in fact, given my (and many, many other Americans) financial status, I think I would cry because I know I can’t afford one on my own and if it weren’t for Planned Parenthood and their understanding that hey, not everyone can afford health care, I would not be able to get my annual exams at all. I guess the statement Planned Parenthood of Indiana gave for the gift certificates, that they aren’t necessarily for abortions, but for preventative health care, fell on deaf ears here, as per usual. Come on, lethal gift certificates? Perverting the meaning of Christmas? Yeah, a healthy vagina is insanely perverted, every time I’m in the shower I avoid that area completely because vaginas are disgusting! Oh no, the horror!

Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of PPFA of Indiana responded in the Washington Times to charges that the certificates promote abortion:

“Birth control is the best way to avoid unintended pregnancy. Avoiding unintended pregnancy is the best way to reduce abortion” rates, Cockrum said. She added that her organization performs abortions on only about 5,000 of the 92,000 patients it sees annually.

Bottom line: Women need and deserve to be healthy. Planned Parenthood makes it possible for every woman to take preventative measures to ensure she is in the best health they can be in. Planned Parenthood is not solely an abortion clinic by any means, they offer other services already outlined in this article that could potentially save a woman’s life. Planned Parenthood tests for and treats sexually transmitted diseases and infections, they test for breast and cervical cancer and they make it possible for every woman to avoid unintended pregnancy and thus, reducing the amount of abortions needed every year.

If you live in Indiana and know someone who does not have health insurance, please consider giving them the gift of health care this holiday season. Many low income families simply cannot afford health care and you would be giving them a gift that could potentially save their life or at the very least, help them live a healthier life.



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  • WOW! Very nice post i totally enjoy the content of this post and i will definitely share this post to my friends and students.
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  • Sidhe
    Here's to Planned Parenthood of Indiana! About a year ago, I had to explain to my pro-life father that Planned Parenthood is not an "abortion clinic" but a "woman's health clinic," that may have saved my life through early detection and I was able to pay for it because they had a scale based on income in Seattle. What really kills me though is passing all of those old men calling you a "baby killer" on your way to a pap-smear. I always ask them, "when's the last time you were pregnant?".
  • As a temporary Hoosier myself, YEA Planned Parenthood!

    Figures a nun would comment; someone who likely has VERY good health care and no need for prophylactics (or so they want us to think, right?)

    I cannot understand why there exists the presumption that pro-choice=pro-abortion? Yes, I believe a woman has a right to choose; I would never presume to tell other female beings what to do with their own uteri. But it's not like I'm out there at crazy "pro-abortion" rallies with a sign that reads Abort! Abort! We all must just Abort! (small lettering at the bottom with "sponsored by npg.org"). I'm not at some podium waxing sociopathically about the perks of abortion. I just want Roe V Wade to stay as it is, I want women to have access to affordable health care so that they don't make decisions out of desperation.

    I would be laughable if it weren't so sad to think of the tens of thousands of American women who could have their last hope for health care stripped from them because of some "Culture of Life" whackjobs.

    I wish they'd start calling it PREGNANCY control (hereafter: PC). C'mon. BIRTH control is 9 months way ahead of the game. The condom is, well, a condom. It serves lots of purposes, one of which is to be a barrier method of pregnancy prevention. I composed a short drama in five acts for my blog as a way to explain the various PC methods, since our lame-o-ducko president is dashing for the finish line with legislation to categorize the Pill as abortion. Seriously, check out the wee drama; it might make you chuckle:

    http://skyewriter-novemberfifth.blogspot.com/20...

    I won't ever self-promote again, because I finally got the guts to post a comment here after reading for so long. I don't want to get exiled.
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