Pacer Pillowtalk: Planned Parenthood & the war against Roe v. Wade

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a nonprofit organization that provides global sexual health care. There is a common misconception that Planned Parenthood only serves to grant women abortions, but Planned Parenthood also provides “blood pressure checks, cancer screenings, birth control, S.T.D. treatment” and more.

The Planned Parenthood at the Augusta Health Center has been closed for years, leaving the closest options in Atlanta, Charleston, Columbia and Savannah for those seeking resources.

The groundbreaking 7-2 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case decided in 1973 that during the first trimester of pregnancy, the state cannot interfere with a woman’s decision to terminate her pregnancy. During the second trimester, the state can regulate abortion if it is “reasonably related to maternal health.”

In the third trimester, abortion can be regulated or prohibited by the state unless termination of her pregnancy is necessary to save the life or health of the mother.

Some states like Utah requires fathers with verified paternity to pay half of a mother’s insurance premiums and any related medical costs.

Texas makes efforts to stifle Medicaid recipients’ access to Planned Parenthood: The 1976 Hyde Amendment bars the federal government from paying for a woman’s abortion “except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape.”

Since the pandemic, states like Texas and Ohio have included abortion as one of the medical procedures that could be delayed.

Feb. 18, Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina passed the “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act” which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy when cardiac activity can be detected on ultrasound with the exceptions of rape, incest, or risk of the mother’s life.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis has ensured the act is blocked until Planned Parenthood can make a case.

As of Jan. 1, Georgia requires women to receive state-directed counseling 24 hours prior to the procedure specifically to discourage her from proceeding, and abortions may only be performed halfway through the second trimester in cases of life or health endangerment for the mother or child.

Georgia’s law restricting abortion was made on the assertion that has been rejected by the medical community that the fetus can feel pain at that stage of the pregnancy. This remains a common misconception in many anti-abortion organizations.

Aside from the argument of bodily autonomy, rape is a commonly brought up in cases and is debated frequently in many communities.

According to Elizabeth Emelia Osorio, a criminal defense attorney in Delaware, Ohio, “felony cases that involve forensic evidence or testing will take several (3-5) months to complete pretrial conferences, motion hearings, and bargaining.”

Women are expected to provide evidence of rape within six to 10 weeks. The extension of court dates for abortion cases can be as long as three months, which goes well-past the first trimester and into the early states of the second.

In 2020, Planned Parenthood provided healthcare to 2.4 million patients, 7.5% of which are male. 2,565,910 birth control and information services were provided, 5,434,446 sexually transmitted infections were identified and treated, and 542,659 breast exams and pap smears were provided.

There are 200 health centers in 31 states providing hormone therapy to transgender patients; 3.65 million people were reached through sex education programs.

Planned Parenthood a vital resource, one that ensures not only the sexual health of the patient, but providing contraceptives, cancer screenings, STD testing and a number of other resources for all genders.

Removing this resource will have a significant increase in deaths. Research demonstrates this nationally.

In the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, conclusive evidence shows that “recent fiscal and legislative changes reducing women's access to family planning and reproductive health services have contributed to rising maternal mortality rates.”

In the case of Texas, a state with some of the strictest abortion laws, “pregnancy-related deaths doubled after the state stopped reimbursing Planned Parenthood and imposed stringent funding cuts for women’s health — and 54% fewer patients in the state received care,” cited in the article “The Impact of Defunding Planned Parenthood.”