Defunding Planned Parenthood Does Not Mean It Will Cease to Exist

For the umpteenth time, read this timeless quote by Frederic Bastiat. Read it well and let it sink in for a minute what he's saying and what still holds true today:

"Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.” ~The Law, 1850

Got it? Just because you don't want the government, i.e. taxpayers, to pay for something does not mean it will not exist. A modern and current example of this is the fight to defund Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood will not disappear if government funding all of a sudden were to vanish any more than art would disappear from society if we stopped funding the National Endowment for the Arts (and yes, let's defund that, too).

Planned Parenthood currently receives over $500 million dollars of taxpayer money or around 40% of its budget from Government Health Services Grants and Reimbursements. By law, none of that taxpayer money can be used for abortive services except in extreme circumstances of rape, incest, or endangerment to a woman's life so conservatives are just grasping at straws and waging a war on women once again, right?

Wrong. It doesn't matter whether that money goes directly to abortive services or not. There are huge swaths of people who disdain the fact that their hard-earned money goes toward an organization that performs abortive services at all, even if they don't directly fund the offending services.

Think of it this way, what if $500 million dollars of government funding went to a Christian organization that provided food and shelter for needy people? They had food banks and thrift stores, shelters for homeless people to get back on their feet, counseling for abused women and children, and job training programs. Yet also as part of their services, they had counseling sessions for LGBT youth that was tantamount to "pray away the gay" counseling in which they urged young people to renounce their sins and accept Christ as the Way and the Path forward. Even if it were just 3% of what that organization did and 80% of what they did was extremely valuable services for needy families across the nation, do you think liberals would sit idly by as their tax money went to fund such abhorrent practices? No! And they would have an equally valid grievance as those conservatives who are appalled that their tax money goes toward funding an organization that engages in what they see as nothing short of murder.

In both cases, defunding such organizations would not mean they would cease to exist. It just means that in neither case is there a gun being held to someone's head by Uncle Sam with his hand outstretched saying "Fund this organization that you find repugnant or else, Citizen." Those who do find value in those organizations can reach into their own pockets and fund it themselves instead of picking the pocket of their neighbors and forcing them to contribute to something they might find detestable. It's as simple as that. No, really, it is.

Lastly, defunding Planned Parenthood is no more a war on women than defunding the hypothetical Christian organization I mentioned is a war against Christianity. Women keep saying that they want the government out of their bedroom, then they need to accept that that means no longer making the government pay for her reproductive choices. You don't get to have it both ways. If you want the government out of your uterus, then you must reject government funding and all the strings that come attached to it. As a libertarian I can say this without hypocrisy because I would say the exact same thing for male reproductive choices as well.

Bottom line: Organizations like Planned Parenthood can and will exist without government funding. They do provide important health services for many women across the country and I myself have used their basic services when I was in college and my early 20s. If you find value in what they do, as is clear that millions do, then reach into your own pocket and make up the difference with your voluntary contribution to the organization. Don't hold a gun to your fellow citizen's head and make that person pay for something against their will. V is for voluntary. Use your money to voluntarily support causes you believe in. Let's get away from the 'V is for violence', the threat of which is used when Uncle Sam puts his imaginary gun in your ribs and says "Pay up or else," in the same manner a robber would. Learn the difference. Read Bastiat's "The Law" or just read the opening quote as many times as you need to until you understand that government =/= society and those organizations can and will exist without forcing those who don't support it to pay for it.