Looming Government Shutdown and Planned Parenthood

The U.S government will shut down in three hours if Democrats and Republicans cannot reach an agreement, on Planned Parenthood funding. It seems unthinkable that the most powerful democracy in the world would shut down over a moral debate on abortion.

Republicans have attached riders or stipulations to governmental funding for Planned Parenthood. These riders restrict how the federal government can spend money in certain areas.

Planned Parenthood currently receives $363 million in federal funding. Republicans, specifically the Tea Party want to eliminate all Title X  funding for Planned Parenthood. That money goes toward cancer screenings, STD testing and contraception. The ironic thing about this entire argument is that federal funds cannot be used for abortions. The Hyde Act prevents this from happening. The article “Stand with Planned Parenthood,” explains this in depth.

One in five women turn to Planned Parenthood for health screenings. Cutting all federal funding is not going to significantly change the budget, instead will only harm the health of women that depend on Planned Parenthood services.

It seems as though they are willing to single handily risk shutting down the U.S. government in order to see that the largest American organization for women’s health care and advocacy is brought to its knees.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tweeted “GOP wants to shut down our nation’s government because they want to make it harder for women to get the health service.”

According to the Huffington Post AOL “Government Shutdown by the Numbers: A Primer,” Democrats have already agreed to cutting $38 billion dollars in the federal budget. But apparently that is not enough.

I can’t help but wonder why congress chose this moment to play the abortion card? It is juvenile and irresponsible to wait until three hours before deadline to decide if the U.S. government will shut down over such a relatively small amount of money.

The government spends billion of dollars more on things like defense, and cuts the same amount in taxes for the wealthy. But the fallout from this measure will affect members of the military and their families. They will not receive paychecks, money that they depend on to survive.

This country is supposed to be the world model of Democracy. We’ve gone to countless wars to defend and preserve that right for other nations. Nevertheless it seems that we are willing to cripple our own democracy under the hidden disguise of abortion rights. Democrats says it’s about morals, Republicans say their just trying to cut spending. In the end there is no winner on either side of this political issue and perhaps the biggest loser of all is women.