Author Spotlight
Anna Bernard
Sitting as one of the youngest speakers at a Town Hall meeting on sex education, sophomore Eden McKissick-Hawley watched as a man stood up for the question-and-answer portion of the meeting.
“I’m a teacher at an inner-city school,” he started, addressing the panel, “We’ve had 14 pregnant girls this month, but I still believe in abstinence-only education.”
Eden looked him straight in the eye.
“Well, do you think that maybe it’s not working?”
The recently proposed Pence Amendment has brought debate like this back to the forefront. The amendment, which passed in February by the U.S. House of Representative, would eliminate the Title X family planning program, which provides federal funds to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and over 100 other affiliated organizations. Title X is currently funded at $317 million. The amendment was voted down by the Senate this month, but a similar bill is currently in the House committee.
Planned Parenthood is a health care provider that supplies birth control, sexual and body-image education and cancer and sexually transmitted disease (STD) screenings. Its most controversial service is abortion, though, according to its website, abortions account for just three percent of its total services. The new bill would cut federal funding from any organization that provides abortions. Federal funds are currently given to Planned Parenthood for all its services besides abortions.
According to a Planned Parenthood press release, the Pence amendment would have cut “48 percent of Planned Parenthood patients — approximately 1.4 million people — from their source of health care.”
When she learned of the proposal, Eden was “disgusted.” A long-time advocate for comprehensive sexual education as opposed to abstinence-only education, Eden strongly opposed the House decision.
“I think that [legislators] have let students and the youth down,” Eden said. “This to me is a huge issue that directly affects every boy and girl in the state of Kansas. When kids cannot get STD screenings, cancer screenings, access to birth control, access to pregnancy tests, where are they going to turn to?”
Eden believes that a holistic approach to sexual education is the best approach to increasing teenager’s sexual health. Citing statistics such as one-in-four girls have an STD, Eden feels that abstinence-only education actually increases teenage sex.
“As sex-ed goes up, abortion rates go down,” Eden said. “If anything, [Planned Parenthood] needs more funding and more support from people who don’t like abortion, because they try to prevent that the best way possible. If you take away sex education, if you take away prevention, if you take away screenings, those rates are going to soar.”
The Kansas Coalition for Life (KCFL) is one local organization that actively campaigns against Planned Parenthood because they offer abortion. The KCFL believes Planned Parenthood practices eugenics, adjusting human heredity through selective breeding. The organization buys and distributes the film “Maafa-21” to Kansans, a documentary that claims Planned Parenthood has a goal of eliminating the black population through abortion.
“As the truth about Planned Parenthood comes out, more and more decent people will call for an end to funding Planned Parenthood,” said Mark Gietzen, Chairman of the Board of KCFL. “Fortunately, the most people in the USA are decent people who want to do the right thing. Therefore, our educational efforts are always a top priority.”
Planned Parenthood of Kansas & Mid-Missouri could not be reached for comment.
Harry McDonald, Board of Directors member of MAINstream Coalition, an organization that promotes the separation of Church and State, says these claims are baseless. McDonald has attended MAINstream meetings on the topic of sexual education.
“These charges are meant to incite the ignorant and try to get support for radical ideas like defunding Planned Parenthood,” McDonald said “If anyone went to a Planned Parenthood office and sat down, that wouldn’t be the situation. Groups that [claim eugenics] are just trying to get support for their position, which I believe is indefensible.”
Eden became involved in sexual education avocation through her mother, Reverend Holly McKissick. A Senior Pastor at Saint Andrew Christian Church, Holly started an inter-faith Religious Affairs sector of Planned Parenthood, whose purpose was to show that there were people of faith who supported comprehensive sexual education and a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. She is also a former board member of Planned Parenthood, where she oversaw their different services.
“I’ve appreciated their courageous stands at times and their willingness to take up popular issues,” Holly said. “I think no one wants to see abortion widespread; no one wants to see abortion used as a form of contraception.”
Holly viewed the proposed defunding of Planned Parenthood as a “critical loss,” especially because of the impact it would have on women who are limited financially. She believes that, if Planned Parenthood funds were cut, that middle class and upper-middle class women would be able to find services elsewhere, but those with less money would be left without a place to go. Her daughter thinks that the cuts would be felt even in the higher socioeconomic classes.
“It’s an awful stereotype that… just because we go to Shawnee Mission East, we’re not affected by our actions,” Eden said. “Everyone’s vulnerable to this, it doesn’t matter how much money your parents have, how superior you think you are to everyone, how invulnerable you think you are to being affected or getting pregnant. No one is incapable of getting pregnant or spreading an STD or getting one themselves.”
Senior Caroline Miller was initially against the Pence Amendment when it was proposed, but after researching the issue, she came to support it. Miller thought that Planned Parenthood was predominately focused on safe sex measures, but felt the organization was biased after reading that they performed 134 abortions for every adoption referral. Miller does consider herself pro-choice.
“When I look at [legislation], I try to look at it from an un-biased perspective and try to look at the facts,” Miller said. “Obviously [Planned Parenthood] is more supporting abortion than safe alternatives for any babies of young moms that are coming in. So, I don’t think that tax dollars should go to a biased organization no matter what your view of pro-life or pro-choice is.”
All Kansas Representatives, including Kevin Yoder (3rd District) and Tim Huelskamp (1st District) voted in favor of the Pence Amendment. Huelskamp, in particular, voiced his opinion in the House debate. His speech, which aired on C-SPAN, discussed the various charges brought against Planned Parenthood in Kansas.
In 2007, former Kansas attorney general Phil Kline’s filed a 107-count criminal case against Planned Parenthood, the first U.S. case against the organization. Some of the charges indicate that the Johnson County Planned Parenthood failed to report accounts of sexual abuse. Though the case is still in courts, it has been stalled due to an ethics hearing filed against Kline.
Regardless of her opinion, Holly believes that the debate is just beginning. She feels there are two options from here: either the issue will embolden Planned Parenthood supporters to speak out, or it will give the impression that it is a dying organization.
“Clearly, the issue is not going to go away,” Holly said. “I think we’re going to continue to see more and more of these initiatives. It’s kind of the tip of the iceberg. I expect that it’s going to keep coming back.”
Eden urges politicians to consider other budget-cutting options. In the long run, she believes more unwanted pregnancies will be a bigger drain on the economy than cutting Planned Parenthood will save.
“Until we can stop being ignorant about the fact that teenagers will have sex, even if you tell them not to, we’re not going to see any progress,” Eden said. “So at this point, it’s a matter of accepting that some teenagers will have sex and trying to educate them about the safest way possible.”
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