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Jeremy and I have been watching the presidential debates together, the first one with our children. Four year old Mercy is 100% for Barack Obama, and six year old Liberty is 100% for Mitt Romney. Jeremy and I grin at each other and ask the girls questions. "Why do you like him more than the other guy?"
Liberty insists Governor Romney has the best ideas for our country and he wants to do what is right. Mercy tells us just as emphatically that President Obama is the best one, and no one else should try to be the president when he already is -- that's simply not nice! Neither one of them will budge from their position.
While I listened to the second debate full of binders and Big Bird, I heard Obama accuse Romney of wanting to cut government funding to Planned Parenthood which offers free mammograms and cervical cancer screenings to women who cannot afford to pay for them (see first 30 seconds of video clip below).
I listened, and I frowned to myself, recalling vaguely somewhere in the back of my mind that Planned Parenthood does not actually provide mammograms and cervical cancer screenings to anyone at all. Now where had I heard that?
The next day, my friend and I did some research. Okay, Allie did the research while I asked her questions. Is that better? And here is what she found. After the President's comments at the debate, a group called Live Action investigated Planned Parenthood's claims about mammograms and found that the organization does not -- not anywhere in the United States -- perform mammograms or cervical cancer screenings. None. Anywhere. What the organization does instead is direct women to the state funded program already in place and already being funded by our tax dollars. Here's the link to that investigation.
My friend Allie was astonished at this finding. She is part of a women's group that annually raises money to donate to women-related cause. Up until this past February, they always donated their proceeds to the Susan B. Komen Foundation which supports breast cancer research. However, last year, Komen quit sending money to Planned Parenthood because they realized PP was simply sending women to other places for anything having to do with breast cancer. Why should Komen support them when Komen's focus is on breast cancer only? However, Allie's group did not realize the facts behind Komen's decision, and they chose not to donate their raised funds to the Komen Foundation because they assumed the Foundation's break with Planned Parenthood affected women wanting mammograms. Here's a link to the research the Susan B. Komen Foundation did when making their decision to drop funding to Planned Parenthood.
With this startling new fact in hand, Allie and I wondered, where can women go who do not have insurance or who are unable to pay for screenings they desperately need? So, we researched again. Okay, okay, SHE researched again while I sat back and cheered her on. Hey, moral support is a big deal, okay? Here's what we found. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) a service of the US government and funded by tax-payers, is already providing mammograms and cervical cancer screening to millions of under-insured or unemployed or low income women. The Susan G. Komen Foundation is very actively seeking out organizations to support financially that provide these services to the same women who cannot afford it, and they have a list of them available for anyone looking. Also, there is an organization called Pink Campaigns that travels with their mobile unit providing free screenings to groups of people at a time and giving classes and other education on early detection signs and prevention. Locally, there are many hospitals, churches, businesses, etc. who are initiating events like this one to help women in need.
For me, the bottom line turned out to be that President Obama lied during the debate -- cutting tax-payer dollars to Planned Parenthood will not affect women wanting free mammograms or cervical cancer screenings at all. If a voter's only concern is that mammograms and cervical cancer screenings be available to anyone who needs them, then they should be happy to know that tax-payers are already funding the CDC (Center for Disease Control), an organization that actually IS providing those services that Planned Parenthood is not.
Liberty insists Governor Romney has the best ideas for our country and he wants to do what is right. Mercy tells us just as emphatically that President Obama is the best one, and no one else should try to be the president when he already is -- that's simply not nice! Neither one of them will budge from their position.
While I listened to the second debate full of binders and Big Bird, I heard Obama accuse Romney of wanting to cut government funding to Planned Parenthood which offers free mammograms and cervical cancer screenings to women who cannot afford to pay for them (see first 30 seconds of video clip below).
I listened, and I frowned to myself, recalling vaguely somewhere in the back of my mind that Planned Parenthood does not actually provide mammograms and cervical cancer screenings to anyone at all. Now where had I heard that?
The next day, my friend and I did some research. Okay, Allie did the research while I asked her questions. Is that better? And here is what she found. After the President's comments at the debate, a group called Live Action investigated Planned Parenthood's claims about mammograms and found that the organization does not -- not anywhere in the United States -- perform mammograms or cervical cancer screenings. None. Anywhere. What the organization does instead is direct women to the state funded program already in place and already being funded by our tax dollars. Here's the link to that investigation.
My friend Allie was astonished at this finding. She is part of a women's group that annually raises money to donate to women-related cause. Up until this past February, they always donated their proceeds to the Susan B. Komen Foundation which supports breast cancer research. However, last year, Komen quit sending money to Planned Parenthood because they realized PP was simply sending women to other places for anything having to do with breast cancer. Why should Komen support them when Komen's focus is on breast cancer only? However, Allie's group did not realize the facts behind Komen's decision, and they chose not to donate their raised funds to the Komen Foundation because they assumed the Foundation's break with Planned Parenthood affected women wanting mammograms. Here's a link to the research the Susan B. Komen Foundation did when making their decision to drop funding to Planned Parenthood.
With this startling new fact in hand, Allie and I wondered, where can women go who do not have insurance or who are unable to pay for screenings they desperately need? So, we researched again. Okay, okay, SHE researched again while I sat back and cheered her on. Hey, moral support is a big deal, okay? Here's what we found. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) a service of the US government and funded by tax-payers, is already providing mammograms and cervical cancer screening to millions of under-insured or unemployed or low income women. The Susan G. Komen Foundation is very actively seeking out organizations to support financially that provide these services to the same women who cannot afford it, and they have a list of them available for anyone looking. Also, there is an organization called Pink Campaigns that travels with their mobile unit providing free screenings to groups of people at a time and giving classes and other education on early detection signs and prevention. Locally, there are many hospitals, churches, businesses, etc. who are initiating events like this one to help women in need.
For me, the bottom line turned out to be that President Obama lied during the debate -- cutting tax-payer dollars to Planned Parenthood will not affect women wanting free mammograms or cervical cancer screenings at all. If a voter's only concern is that mammograms and cervical cancer screenings be available to anyone who needs them, then they should be happy to know that tax-payers are already funding the CDC (Center for Disease Control), an organization that actually IS providing those services that Planned Parenthood is not.
Wow, Missy. Thanks so much for sharing this information. I also thought that PP provided free mammograms at their sites. This needs to go national! I'm sharing it on FB - hope you don't mind!