In 2013,
Jaime Benner discovered a lump in her right breast. She credits Planned
Parenthood with saving her life. Her
primary care provider couldn't get her in for a screening for three weeks. Not
only was Planned Parenthood able to get her in for an appointment that day, but
they stood with her through the process of getting a referral for an emergency
mammogram and beyond. "The radiologist report came back
inconclusive," she says. "But Planned Parenthood refused to accept
that answer and sent me for further testing." Two and a half weeks later, she
underwent a complete radical mastectomy. "By the time I had my mastectomy,
which was only a few weeks later, my cancer was spreading into my lymphatic
system," she adds. "A day could have been the difference between the
stage 3b cancer I had and stage 4." Benner is the face of a new
campaign to help save the organization's federal funding in a video that
features an unexpected voice of support: Donald Trump. During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump
occasionally toed the Republican Party line in opposition to Planned Parenthood while
other times he spoke frankly, sharing important truths about just how vital the
organization's services are to millions of people. In a new 30-second ad for
Planned Parenthood, Benner tells her own story, accompanied by clips of Trump,
speaking in his own words about why Planned Parenthood matters. The video
includes the notable moment from a Republican primary debate when he said,
"Millions and millions of women — cervical cancer, breast cancer — are
helped by Planned Parenthood." That wasn’t the only time Trump
defended Planned Parenthood. In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity in
August 2015, Trump debunked the idea that the group is first and foremost an
abortion provider — a claim that serves as the source of much of the
controversy surrounding the organization — correctly noting that abortion is
"actually a fairly small part of what they do." If
Planned Parenthood weren't around, people like Benner couldn’t just go
somewhere else. There aren’t other local health clinics that can cover that
patient load. A recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found
that defunding Planned Parenthood would have a disastrous effect on women’s
health care options, especially those who rely on Medicaid. "Not only did
Planned Parenthood get me the testing I needed to find out I had cancer, they
got everything together to get me Medicaid so I would have coverage,"
Benner says. "I'm not sure if you've ever looked into the costs associated
with cancer, but one shot I used after chemo was $7,000 a syringe each time.
I'm sure most average people couldn't afford to purchase one of those every two
weeks." Benner isn't alone. It's estimated that 1 in 5 women in the U.S.
has visited a Planned Parenthood health center. While Republican
politicians have the organization in their crosshairs, a majority of Americans
(including a majority of Republicans, as a group) oppose cutting off funds to
Planned Parenthood, with a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll finding that 75% of the
public opposes cutting the group's funding. Planned Parenthood is a
lifeline for people of all political ideologies, and Donald Trump — clearly —
knows it. The question remains, however, whether he and others will cut it off
anyway. "We have to
help women," Trump said during the 2015 interview with Hannity. "A
lot of women are helped [by Planned Parenthood]." Now stuck between his
pledge to "help women" and his promise to defund Planned Parenthood, Trump needs to choose
one or the other. Benner, and millions of women like her, hope he’ll stand on
the side of survivors. Using Trump's own words to make a point about why it's
necessary to save Planned Parenthood is a pretty genius — and hopefully
effective — move. This article is from Upworthiest. I don’t support Trump and I
probably never will, however this being said, I am relieved that he is not
blind to the immense support Planned Parenthood offers to women.
No comments:
Post a Comment