President Obama goes on the attack to remind voters that Romney is wedded to conservative “social values” having promised to cut off all funding for Planned Parenthood.
Dawn: “I think Mitt Romney’s really out of touch with the average woman’s health issues…”
Alex: “This is not the 1950s. Contraception is so important to women…it’s about a woman being able to make decisions…”
Dawn “I don’t remember anyone as extreme as Romney.”
Mitt Romney: “I’ll cut off funding to Planned Parenthood.”
Alex: “I don’t think Mitt Romney can even understand the mindset of someone who has to go to Planned Parenthood.”
Mitt Romney: “Planned Parenthood. We’re going to get rid of that.”
Dawn: “I think Romney would definitely drag us back.”
Ezra Klein from the Washington Post brings us this chart to explain what Planned Parenthood ACTUALLY DOES HERE:
Abortion services account for about 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s activities. That’s less than cancer screening and prevention (16 percent), STD testing for both men and women (35 percent), and contraception (also 35 percent). About 80 percent of Planned Parenthood’s users are over age 20, and 75 percent have incomes below 150 percent of the poverty line. Planned Parenthood itself estimates it prevents more than 620,000 unintended pregnancies each year, and 220,000 abortions. It’s also worth noting that federal law already forbids Planned Parenthood from using the funds it receives from the government for abortions.
He also notes … the services that Planned Parenthood offer save taxpayers LOTS of money:
The fight also isn’t about cutting spending. The services Planned Parenthood provides save the federal government a lot of money. It’s somewhat cold to put it in these terms, but taxpayers end up bearing a lot of the expense for unintended pregnancies among people without the means to care for their children. The same goes for preventable cancers and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
It’s a holy war; a war that says women do not have the right to make their own decisions with their body. It’s a war that says conservatives are going to tell a woman she must endure a vaginal probing (which is TERRIBLY uncomfortable) because conservatism says even if you get raped … you should have that rapist’s baby. I guess you should have been on the pill huh? Well – conservatives don’t want you on the pill either. Even though Viagra is covered for free under insurance for men … conservatives have compared women having access to FREE contraception courtesy of Obamacare akin to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. No I am not kidding you (source).
And if you forgot all the ugly, horrible things that the Republican party has said about women and their right to either contraception or women’s health services … just watch this video:
Most of these “conservatives” who are voting on behalf of what women should or should not do … they’re men. They apparently believe a woman is best when she is obedient to her man, maintains a good house and stays at home barefoot and/or pregnant.
