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Planned Parenthood protects our common good

OpEd


COMMUNITY MATTERS

Planned Parenthood protects our common good 

Now over 100 years new, Planned Parenthood is a national organization whose mission includes to providing comprehensive reproductive health care services to both women and men, yes men.  The health center in Escondido is located at 347 W. Mission Ave., Escondido.  

In addition to well-known healthcare services it provides women, including general healthcare, birth control, HIV testing, pregnancy services, STD testing and treatment services, vasectomy counseling and procedure are also available for men.  Many associate Planned Parenthood with abortion services and hear the national debate about some funding Planned Parenthood receives for non-abortion services, but the truth is that abortion services is a small portion of Planned Parenthood’s healthcare services. The community reality is that if it were not for Planed Parenthood in the community, many residents would have no real access to preventive healthcare services.

Healthcare is a human right of all, not a privilege for some.  Planned Parenthood in North County continues to build and strengthen relationships across movements to protect access to healthcare with a deeper commitment to elevating the intersections of reproductive health, rights, justice, and other issues affecting our region.  By eliminating systemic barriers, including racial oppression, Planned Parenthood works with community leaders on issues of racial justice, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, economic justice and helps our communities define how these issues and access to healthcare intersect.  

Last week, the US Supreme Court denied hearing cases that would have put Medicaid payments for preventive care for low income women on the agenda.  This means that the two states (Kansas and Louisiana) who were looking to terminate Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood health centers were defeated and lower court rulings that these states violated federal law stands.  Interestingly, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined Chief Justice John Roberts and the four more progressive justices (Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan) to deny the hearing petition for review.  

So, during these times of state and national debate about how we can as a society improve healthcare accessibility, Planned Parenthood helps to partly fill the access gap, fight the perils of healthcare and economic inequality, provides education and leadership to the community, and works with our local leaders to assure that our communities and its residents, strive for good health.  

Alan Geraci is a consumer advocate/attorney.

*Note: Opinions expressed by columnists and letter writers are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the newspaper.

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