October 28, 2007

    As we already find ourselves at the end of Respect Life Month, I thought we could take a little time to look at both sides of the well known medical group called Planned Parenthood.  This group has a long standing reputation for being a provider of health information and service.  They pride themselves with providing a comprehensive care package that includes sexual and reproductive health care, including family planning, gynecological care, STI/STD testing and treatment, pregnancy testing and abortion services.

    The philosophy of the Federation of Planned Parenthood is to provide good medical health for sexually active women and to protect the woman or the teen from  unwanted pregnancies.  All exams and procedures are private even for underaged teens.  This philosophy is based on the notion that girls will tend to take better care of themselves by seeking medical help is they believe that their parents will not be notified. 

    There is danger of finding ourselves on a very slippery slope if we espouse this program.  Perhaps the medical care is professional but there appears to be absolutely no consideration for the moral aspect.  We can find much information about the program simply by reading their website.  Two specific areas that are of major concern to all people who profess faith in a Creator God are the program’s notion of Planned Parenthood and induced miscarriage.

    Planned Parenthood for women is translated into having abortion as a viable option.  When women come into a Planned Parenthood clinic they are presented with the abortion option as a matter of course.  The defense of this option is based on the idea that abortions will be performed one way or other.  They might as well be medically safe.  Having them performed by irresponsible “doctors” in back alleys is unconsceinable.  The slippery slope here is that abortion is never the only option.  That perspective is rarely presented by Planned Parenthood however since it is not part of their philosophy.

    There is such a thing as Natural Family Planning which is based on scientific data and knowledge.  Many medical professionals support this program.  Unfortunately, this seems to be a well kept secret. 

    The other area that is lacking in moral ground is the interpretation of Abortion.  Basing themselves on history, from Native American practices to early colonial practices,  Planned Parenthood sees abortion as nothing more than an induced miscarriage.  For them, there is natural miscarriage and induced miscarriage.  They defend the choice of abortion by stating statistics.  Apparently there are only 25% of the 6,000,000 pregnancies that occur in the U.S. every year. Since 50% of the pregnancies were unintended, the 25% of abortions seems minor. 

    Perhaps what we need to do as Christians is to become better informed on various topics.  We are often confused because we do not know the whole story.  We must also be careful to read between the lines when we are being fed information online.  We must remember that there is always two sides to every coin.       
                                Lorette P. Nault