Every morning on my way to class I, like most BU students who live in Allston, walk past Planned Parenthood. It’s a beautiful building composed with deep red bricks and polished steel which sits unassumingly on Commonwealth Avenue.
Yet, walking past it is often my least favorite part of the day. The sidewalk outside has been damp with autumn and peppered with golden leaves. The white circle that once wrapped around the entrance to Planned Parenthood has faded and the new larger yellow circle stands bright against the gray of the city.
Along the edge of the circle old women hunker down armed with roses and Bibles to await students walking to class. They do not care if you are male or female and will flit alongside you somewhat like gnats. Their message, “Jesus loves you.” I always nod and smile, cast them off as uninformed, from a different era, a different world. I try not to make eye contact. Though it is important to learn from the past, I will not allow it to dictate my future.
On Oct. 16, 1916, the first birth control clinic in America opened on Amboy Street in Brooklyn, N.Y This past Tuesday was Planned Parenthood’s 96th birthday. For nearly 100 years it has promoted a commonsense approach to women’s health and further to our well-being based on respect for each individual’s right to make informed, independent decisions regarding health, sex and family planning.
Health centers like the one on Commonwealth Avenue, provide a huge range of healthcare, more than 90 percent of which is preventative, primary care. It helps prevent unintended pregnancies through contraception, reduces the spread of sexually transmitted infections through testing and treatment and provides screening for cervical and other cancers.
Today, Planned Parenthood has nearly 800 health centers. According to its website, every year, Planned Parenthood’s doctors and nurses provide family planning counseling and birth control to 2.2 million women and men, more than 1.1 million pregnancy tests, 770,000 pap tests identify about 94,000 women at risk for developing cervical cancer, nearly 750,000 breast exams, more than 4 million tests and treatments for STI’s including HIV, nearly 1.5 million emergency contraception kits and conduct education programs for nearly 5 million people worldwide, 1.1 million of which are in the U.S.
It is estimated that the work of Planned Parenthood prevents about 584,000 unintended pregnancies and 277,000 abortions each year. That’s right, prevents 277,000 abortions. I think that is more than those little old ladies can say.
Planned Parenthood is more than a medical facility. It is a leader in educating Americans about sexual health as well as a leader in reproductive health and rights movements.
Planned Parenthood is not only providing us with affordable and comprehensive reproductive healthcare, but it is fighting for our right to have it through the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Which is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
One of my favorite aspects of Planned Parenthood is how they handle teenagers. My own parents have always been fairly open about sex and birth control, but I couldn’t necessarily say the same for a lot of my then high school friends. Besides being a large and impressive organization steeped in women’s rights and health care advancement, Planned Parenthood is a safe haven, especially for young adults.
Individuals under the age of 18 can use Planned Parenthood health centers for free. That means there is no need to provide proof of insurance, and no need for parents to be inadvertently informed through an explanation of benefits (EOB) form sent home from insurance companies, which lists visit details.
Through this clause, women can make decisions about their own bodies as soon as they become aware of them. Naturally, Planned Parenthood takes it a step further, and with that first exam and possible birth control prescription comes counseling, so any decisions made are informed ones.
All of these accomplishments and manifestos paint a picture of an innately good service. So, what is it that these older women find so horrifying about Planned Parenthood? Do they know that less than 10 percent of Planned Parenthood’s funding goes to abortions, and that before you are eligible to receive one there is mandatory counseling in which all options are outlined?
Probably not. Somewhere there was a disconnect in some bank of generational collective knowledge. I’ve always found the paradox strange. These women do not want you to abort, but should I walk past pregnant, they would likely lower their eyes. Either way, my choice, my body — and regardless of how often they whirl around my morning commute with Bible verses, I will continue to support Planned Parenthood. If not for myself, then for every young person who should have access to information and resources. Happy birthday, Planned Parenthood!
Arielle Egan is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Fall 2012 columnist for The Daily Free Press. She can be reached at aegan@bu.edu.
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