Planned Parenthood has been in the news almost constantly since the first video emerged where abortion “doctors” were shown to be haggling and negotiating over the price of infant body parts. Once again our nation is divided. On one hand we have those with the humanistic worldview in which the sanctity of life is trumped by the sanctity of autonomy over life. On the other side we have those with a Christian worldview where life is precious. Planned Parenthood has yet again come to the forefront of the abortion debate. Aside from arguing against the terror of the mass killing of children in this country, I aim to give you answers to the incomprehensible arguments that Planned Parenthood is a good organization in spite of the abortions that they commit.
Before I get started I would like to point out that arguing against abortion with a pro-abortion advocate is an exercise in futility. I know this is the case because I spent more than 3 decades being a staunch supporter of a woman’s right to “choose”. The most amazing part of my transformation and rebirth came with the complete and total 180 degree change on this matter. The reason why I am writing this article out of schedule is because I was up at 3 am last night incapable of sleeping due to the weight of the hundreds of thousands of children who are being murdered every year. The fact is that I am incapable, even after being in favor of it, of understanding why anyone would be for the ripping apart of the most innocent of us. I am trying to look back and understand my logic for believing that abortion and women’s health were synonymous and am at a loss. That being said, I believe that the following answers these common arguments are aimed at having a candid and rational conversation with someone who believes that Planned Parenthood is a good.
Even though the best defense against the wholesale slaughter of millions of babies is that life is precious and a gift from God, you will never get an atheist to listen to that argument. These answers are intentionally secular in nature.
Arguments and Answers
1) Planned Parenthood helps poor women and only 3% of its activities are abortions.
Answer – I am still at a loss as to why anyone would think that this is a valid argument. First of all, this number is skewed in the sense that most people have multiple services when they go to a doctor. If I go to a physician for a physical, I might have 9 tests done and an in person examination. If that math was being used, the in person examination was only 10% of the services that were being issued even though that was the main point for the visit.
Even if we give Planned Parenthood that only 3% of procedures are abortions it is still invalid for the simple reason that good does not negate evil. They provide essential health care for poor women, but they still murder babies. Let’s look at this same argument for different cases. Al Capone was a good guy because he had soup kitchens during the Great Depression. Who cares that he killed dozens of people. The Nazis did medical research as well as ushered in the rocket age. Does the fact that they were responsible for the deaths of 20 million people cease to matter because they did some good?
Let’s put it in less grand scales. How about a hospital that worked to save the lives of 97% of the people who went there but randomly killed 3% of their patients.
2) Women have been aborting children since they figured out what root to chew on. Without Planned Parenthood, women would have to have back alley abortions that would put them at risk for infection and death.
Answer – People have been committing murder for just as long. The fact that many women died while killing their unborn children is a consequence of their crime. The same argument could be said about people who commit armed robbery. It is a reality that those who rob people might be killed in the process. Should robbery be made legal?
3) Planned Parenthood gives poor women the ability to control their bodies and abortion is a matter of reproductive rights.
Answer – Abortion has never been about equality. The fact that it is legal is a direct result of the sexual revolution that has swept across this nation and across the world. Legal abortion is about giving people the “right” to avoid the consequences of their actions. People are so concerned about their own personal happiness that the life of another takes second place. If a person makes a poor decision and gets pregnant, this culture says that the inconvenience of having to raise a child warrants the killing of it. Even in regards to the matter of rape caused pregnancies (which constitutes a barely perceptible percentage of abortions committed) doesn’t change the fact that the baby is an innocent bystander to the same crime. Life is precious, no matter the state of the baby or the way it was conceived.
4) The abortions that Planned Parenthood performs are legal and pro-lifers should just accept it. This is a political “issue” that is pointless to fight.
Answer- Slavery was the law of the land for hundreds of years. Segregation was legal. Genocide was legal in Nazi Germany. Execution of heretics by the Roman Catholic Church was legal. Legal does not make right.
We are all subjects of the government we live in and we are to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but we are also to fight against injustice. We must defend those who can’t defend themselves. This is the same reason why we can’t accept human trafficking, starvation in the third world and religious intolerance of all faiths. Standing by and doing nothing is the same as affirmation.
5) Planned Parenthood saves lives.
Answer – There are instances where the life of the mother is at stake (yet again, rare in comparison to convenience abortions), but this is a matter that can be handled in a surgical center where every alternative can be looked at before abortion is even considered. This could be said about the other services performed by Planned Parenthood. The reason why Planned Parenthood exists is to perform abortions. That is the reason why they refuse to stop doing them. If they stopped performing abortions and stuck to taking care of poor women, I would be their biggest advocate.
6) No Federal Money is used to fund abortions
Answer – This is one of the stupidest arguments out there. Federal money might not be used to fund abortions directly, but it is used to pay for the facilities, for the utilities and for equipment used for abortions. The same box of latex gloves used for a pap-smear is used during an abortion surgery. The electric bill that pays for the lights in the examination room pays for the same lights used in the room where abortions are committed. The same bank account that pays the administrator that checks in a woman to have a blood test pays the abortion doctor.
The Christian worldview and abortion is incompatible. When one believes that life is a gift from God it becomes impossible to treat that life with anything less than reverence. The more humanistic this culture gets, the more the value of human life is degraded. Planned Parenthood is but a symptom of a world that places no value on human life. Understanding that the Christian worldview is losing ground does not mean that we shouldn’t fight tooth and nail to resist that degradation. We are subject to this government, but we owe our allegiance to God and to God alone. That means to His innocent image bearers also.
