Planned Parenthood–Not Just for Abortions
Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization with over 650 locations nationwide, is regarded by the uninformed masses as merely a clinic that provides abortion services. The non-profit gets a bad reputation for this very reason, and at any given time and any given location, you can find a slew of anti-abortion protestors waving around posters with inflammatory visuals and shouting hateful comments at the clinics’ patrons as they come and go. However, to the informed individual, Planned Parenthood is a haven that provides judgment-free sexual education, birth control information, cancer screenings, fertility advice, and general medical care for LGBTQIA+ persons and for those who could not afford care elsewhere. So instead of trying to de-fund and close down Planned Parenthood because some (yes, that’s right–only some) of them provide abortion services, let’s learn a little bit more about the critical care that Planned Parenthood provides.
Get Your Education On
Planned Parenthood is the self-proclaimed number one provider of sex education in the country. They are committed to spreading non-judgemental, current, and medically accurate information on sexual and reproductive health to adults, teenagers, and their parents. They provide informative literature at all of their locations. There are parent education classes that teach parents how and when to talk to their children about sex. Their offerings also include information on menopause, fertility, childbirth, erectile dysfunction, and cancer screenings. While they also provide information on abortions and abortion services, they also offer support for pregnant women and couples who are planning to keep, raise, or give up their children.
Ladies, Let’s Get Healthy!
Although Planned Parenthood provides abortion information, and some of its locations offer abortion procedures, the clinic’s primary goal is the provision of quality reproductive and sexual healthcare. Women can get breast exams, Pap smears, and cervical cancer screenings–all potential life-saving procedures essential to women’s health. Planned Parenthood will treat your UTI, give you information on infertility, or even provide just a general wellness check-up, and they do it at an affordable rate–even for those without insurance.
Guys…Planned Parenthood is for You, too!
For some reason, when people think of Planned Parenthood, they immediately assume that it’s a clinic specifically for women. It may shock those very people to find out that Planned Parenthood provides medical support for men as well. Planned Parenthood can help with erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, vasectomy information/procedures, as well as prostate and testicular cancer screenings.
Oh, So You’re Queer?
Everyone deserves judgment-free, compassionate, quality medical care, and Planned Parenthood ensures that the LGBT community gets just that. One LGBT specific service that Planned Parenthood provides is hormone therapy for trans patients. Planned Parenthood employs medical professionals specially trained to work with trans patients, making it one of the best places for people seeking hormone therapy to go for treatment. It’s a haven where queer people can go for medical advice without being pigeonholed into one gender because Planned Parenthood understands the importance that identity has to a person’s health. Planned Parenthood also has support groups for LGBT people, which shows how committed they are not just to the physical health, but the mental and emotional health of their patients. In addition to treating LGBT people, they’re also advocates for the community, offering resources and information for non-LGBT people to help establish a more extensive understanding and acceptance of the community.
STD Testing, Treatment, & Prevention…Because Stuff Happens
Safe sex is essential, and Planned Parenthood does their part to ensure that their patients are engaging in healthy sexual practices like contraceptive use and regular STD screenings. STDs don’t spread to many people or at such a rapid rate when they’re diagnosed and treated early. The information that Planned Parenthood provides on STDs helps patients to recognize symptoms in themselves and their partners. Certain STDs are preventable with the right vaccine, and Planned Parenthood administers those vaccines when necessary.
The services listed above only scratch the surface of all that Planned Parenthood clinics offer. It’s not just a clinic for women to go to when they need an abortion, and just FYI not all Planned Parenthoods even provide abortions. This clinic has helped so many people get educated, get healthy, and get safe. So please y’all. Let’s stop assuming the worst and vilifying an organization whose primary goal is to keep people (and that’s A L L people) healthy and well-informed.
