Just as Precious

I was heartened last week to see two others expressing the same sentiments I expressed over the refugee situation. It gave me hope for America. And then there was another shooting at a Planned Parenthood Clinic. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume it was based on religious objections to abortion. Christian fundamentalists are as extreme in their views and methods as ISIS. They employ terroristic tactics on those with whom they don’t agree.

Now, I know that Planned Parenthood offers some abortions, but those are really a small percentage of all they offer. Planned Parenthood is a leading place to go for affordable quality health care, not only for women, but also for men and young people. They offer sex education so that people are able to make informed choices about their reproductive health. Certainly, it is much better to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, or to prevent an STD.

Planned Parenthood’s site provides the following information:

In the area of STD testing and treatment, they served 4,469,308 people.

In the area of contraception, they served 3,724,680 people.

In the area of cancer screening and prevention, they served 1,121,680 people.

In the area of pregnancy testing and prenatal services, they served 1,17067,755 people.

In the area of abortion procedures, they served 327,166 people.

In the ‘other’ category, (family practices, adoption referrals, UTIs, other), they served 123,308 people.

Planned Parenthood not only serves us here in the United States, but they also, with their partners, serve more than 725,000 individuals in ten developing countries with health care and education.

So, as you can see, a very small percentage of their workload involves abortions, and yet, for some reason, that is the first thing people think of when they hear Planned Parenthood.

We should be more willing to support and fund Planned Parenthood. If more unwanted pregnancies are prevented (either through better use of birth control or through abstinence), there would be far fewer abortions requested. The better informed and educated both men and women are, the more they’ll be apt to make better choices.

I feel there should be more accountability on the part of the male who impregnates the female. It seems as though that old double standard is still very much with us. Young women who become pregnant are very visible, while young men can easily deny their culpability. People still tend to turn a blind eye to young men sowing their wild oats, yet seem to heap scorn upon the young woman.

I will never understand why some people think it is okay to gun down others in an attempt to prevent what they perceive to be the death of an unborn fetus. Why aren’t they seeing that people who have already been born are just as precious? How do they justify the murder(s) they commit? Did they completely miss the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”? How do they decide their interpretation of God’s laws gives them the right to execute those who don’t agree with them? Why do some Christian pastors preach so much hate?

“I can’t understand why people use religion to hurt each other when there’s already so much pain in the world. Religion is supposed to comfort.” -Stephen King, in Joyland