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“It’s OK,” the woman at the desk tried to explain. “No matter what the result is, it will be OK.”
Junior Julie Sanderson* sat in the white office chair, trying to keep her mascara in check as she held back tears. It was time to hear the test results. She wiped away the drips of black makeup that had slid onto her cheek; she tried to sit up and listen. Part of her wanted to look strong. The other part wanted to curl up in a ball and sob.
Sanderson’s mind had been racing for two days since she missed her period. She says she had the proverbial “what if I get pregnant?” fear ever since having sex—a fear that maybe the condom broke or there were other unforeseen complications. For the 48 hours before her visit, pregnancy was all she could think about. She hadn’t been able to sleep or focus in class.
But finally, her thoughts were put at ease—even if just a little bit. She was OK.
“[Before reading the test results] she told me briefly about all the loving people she meets looking to adopt babies in the area,” Sanderson said. “It was just comforting. Mainly small talk, but helpful.”
Sanderson, whose test came out negative, is one of many teens in the KC Metro area who have called on the services of Planned Parenthood. The institution has seven facilities in Kansas, offering services ranging from abortion to distributing of contraceptives to an estimated 10,000 plus people. According to the company’s mission statement, their goal is “to provide comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings which preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual.”
For Sanderson, the program gave her someone she could talk to.
“Abortion was never once mentioned during my visit, it was never about that. It was about me and what I was going to do and if I was going to be OK,” Sanderson said. “I needed that; I needed someone taking care of me.”
But not all students are supportive of the program. Junior Roberto Sada, a firm supporter in pro-life causes, thinks that while Planned Parenthood has its benefits in providing sexual education and contraception, the distributing of abortions is a deal-breaker. Sada explains that people who are morally against the practice should not be forced, even indirectly, to pay taxes supporting it.
“Being morally opposed to abortion and somebody who would probably also support an amendment or a law against abortion I feel that it is a bad business choice,” Sada said. “It’s the wrong decision.”
This difference of opinion mirrors a much larger national debate. A Gallup poll filed in July reported that 40 percent of Americans would support a law prohibiting health clinics that provide abortions from receiving any federal funds. This has led to attempted budgetary cuts on the program in multiple states across the country and even an online petition, defundpp.net, aimed at changing “completely unacceptable” taxes citizens pay to the agency.
However, according to Director of Education at Planned Parenthood of Kansas and mid-Missouri (PPKM) Sarah Aenstaff, the federal money that goes towards Planned Parenthood is not used on after-the-fact medical procedures. Aenstaff is able to point out confidently that no public money is used to fund abortion services—the only federal money used, she says, is “Title X” family planning to provide cancer screening, STI screenings, treatment, contraception and education.
Aenstaff also notes that abortion makes up less than ten percent of the services Planned Parenthood offers yearly. She says the company’s main objective is to “provide access and information to individuals in order for them to make effective decisions about their reproductive and sexual health.”
“PPKM provides services not solely to pregnant teens,” Aenstaff said, “but to all teens.”
Aenstaff feels strongly, in particular, that Planned Parenthood’s willingness to help anyone regardless of money is one of their best services. She says that while they accept a variety of payment methods and offer funding programs to assist clients, they will never say no.
“Our staff provides affordable care, and our doors are open to everyone. No patient is ever turned away due to inability to pay,” Aenstaff said. “In these tough economic times, this component is of utmost importance to women and families.”
With Planned Parenthood, and abortion services in particular, money often comes into the equation. A study compiled in August by the Guttmacher Institute shows that a large majority of woman seeking abortions come from the lower class. The data shows that 42 percent of woman obtaining abortions have incomes below 100 percent of the federal poverty level ($10,830) and an additional 27 percent have incomes between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level.
According to Mike Males, senior researcher for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, “you can’t understand abortion without first understanding poverty levels.” As part of his job, Males tracks statistics of unplanned pregnancy in poor and rich communities—looking for disparities between the two. His research, to date, has continued to show that abortion is often higher in areas of poverty. He attributes this to a lack of federal spending in poor areas and, ultimately, to cuts to programs like Planned Parenthood.
“There’s a lot of people that have the income to deal with [unplanned pregnancy] in private medical facilities and that’s fine,” Males said. “But I don’t think somebody else should be punished, especially when they’re too young to earn their own incomes or determine their own economic circumstance. I’m very much in favor of low-cost medical care being available across society—and they can raise my taxes to provide it.”
Regardless of income, Males feels the program is beneficial, even in areas like Prairie Village.
“All of us in society benefit from preventing disease and injury among all populations,” Males said.
Males, who wrote the book “Teenage Sex and Pregnancy: Modern Myths, Unsexy Realities,” also points out that there are a lot of misconceptions on the issue of unplanned pregnancy. In his book, he discusses the poverty issue in detail, but also focuses on facets of culture like the media and Hollywood—discussing how they are used as a “scapegoat.” His research has shown that while unplanned pregnancy is at an all-time low in America, the media continues to promote the notion that pop culture and Hollywood have corrupted our youth.
It’s these “scapegoats” that Males says distract away from the real problems. Males, who discusses the concept in his first published work “Scapegoat Generation” and in the follow-up “Framing Youth,” says that the stereotyping teens and creating fear in the media is prevalent in the Planned Parenthood issue. He points out that one of the main arguments against the program incites fear of youth—saying that kids may become reckless with sex now that they have a place for preventative actions.
“It’s a ridiculous argument. It’s like saying ‘let’s take the seat belts out of cars so that nobody will drive fast,’” Males said. “Then if you crash and go through the windshield you’ll drive more carefully. It’s that kind of argument.”
Junior Eden McKissick-Hawley agrees, saying that arguments against Planned Parenthood are often “filled with hypocrisy.”
“You can’t judge this situation in a general way,” McKissick-Hawley said. “One person’s need for an abortion might be totally different from someone else’s. Who are you to tell them what they do and don’t do?”
McKissick-Hawley, who formerly worked at Planned Parenthood as an intern and gave a testimonial in the program’s defense at a town hall meeting, says that a defunding of Planned Parenthood is like “taking away rights to your own body.” According to McKissick-Hawley, the information Planned Parenthood offers about sex is invaluable—if taken away, people lose both information about their own body and the steps to prevent disease.
“If you don’t tell a girl ‘you are at a huge risk of getting an STD’ and she hears that sex is fun from every corner of the media, from every discussion at lunch, she’s gonna do it,” McKissick-Hawley said. “People need to open their eyes and realize that they’re not helping anyone by having this predisposition towards education.”
She ultimately says that the debate over Planned Parenthood is a “human rights issue.” Mckissick-Hawley, an active member of Youth in Government Club at East and former field organizer on the Obama campaign, says the issue should not be right vs. left. According to her, it goes beyond partisan politics. She says our youth is hurting as a result of politician’s inability to cross party lines to enact change.
“Politics [is just] not what it used to be,” McKissick-Hawley said. “And it’s sad that we are the one suffering from it.
Sada counters this point—he says that the case against Planned Parenthood is an issue of politics and there be a federal law banning it. According to Sada, if Planned Parenthood were to split up into two entities—one focusing on abortion, another solely on sexual education—than he would be behind the program. But until they do, Sada doesn’t feel like taxpayers should be forced to give them any money.
“There are a lot of people in this country who are morally opposed to abortion,” Sada said, “and they shouldn’t be forced into even indirectly contributing to something that they are deeply opposed to.”
But from the looks of things, there seems to be a future for Planned Parenthood. The issue at the heart of the debate, abortion, is steadily gaining approval, according to a study conducted in July by Harris Interactive. The study shows that 36 percent of those polled believe that woman should have access to abortion in “all circumstances”—the highest number in Harris Polls since 1985. Additionally, those opposed to abortion in any circumstance fell from 21 percent in 2009 to 17 percent this year.
For Sanderson, who went to Planned Parenthood a little under a year ago, the program gave her someone she could turn to that’s easier to talk with than her parents or friends. She feels that Planned Parenthood is only helpful, and does not do anything to encourage abortion or sex.
“Planned Parenthood existing isn’t what made me want to have sex; having health care doesn’t make you want to go out and get sick; AA doesn’t make you want to become an alcoholic because there’s hope for you should you find yourself in that position,” Sanderson said. “Planned Parenthood up and running just means kids can get help if they need it. It doesn’t encourage sex.”
Sanderson and Sada may disagree over the funding of Planned Parenthood, but both can agree that sex education is increasingly important in society. Sada, who wishes there was a national ban on abortion, believes that sex education can save lives.
“Increased sex education reduces abortions because it reduces the amount of unwanted pregnancies; it hopefully is able to increase the access of contraceptives to lower income people,” Sada said. “And for those of us that are privileged and go to East—and probably have learned quite a bit about pregnancy—it really increases some of our knowledge about STD and STI transmission.”
*name changed to protect identity
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