History of Planned Paarenthood
For decades, a woman's right to choose has been one of the most debated issues in both Washington and inside the homes of millions of Americans. Some argue that the moment after a child is conceived, it is murder to terminate the pregnancy. These people tend to be deeply religious and are often members of the conservative coalition. In the middle lies the majority of Americans, who believe in abortion only in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is in danger. On the other end of the spectrum from the anti-choice groups are completely pro-choice groups, who believe that abortion is a responsible form of family planning. Politically, the Democratic Party tends to favor pro-choice groups. In fact, the party platform says the following: The Democratic Party stands behind the right of every woman to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of ability to pay. We believe it is a fundamental constitutional liberty that individual Americans - not government - can best take responsibility for making the most difficult and intensely personal decisions regarding reproduction Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare, not more difficult and more dangerous. We support contraceptive research, family
„X To advocate public policies which guarantee these rights and ensure access to such services. In upholding all of the provisions except the spousal consent requirement, but stopping short of overruling Roe, the Court developed a new way of thinking about abortion cases. The plurality opinion refused to overrule Roe and stated that state laws that banned abortion would be unconstitutional. However, the Court abandoned the trimester framework of Roe in favor of the undue burden standard previously articulated by O'Connor in Webster. Undue burden was defined as a "substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking the abortion of a nonviable fetus." Applying this rule to the provisions at issue, they found that only the spousal consent provision presented an undue burden. Justice Blackmun wrote a concurrence stating that the strict scrutiny applied in Roe should still apply. The dissenters would have upheld all of the provisions and overturned Roe. This case is significant because it is the current standard employed by the Court in deciding laws restricting abortion. This ruling has enabled states to pass more laws restricting access to abortion. Planned Parenthood does not seem to openly discuss how much money it has, the scope of its budget, or how much it takes in from fund raising, but it does offer people who are willing to donate money plenty of options. In their ¥White House Message Campaign' one can donate as little as $25 and, with the donation, Planned Parenthood says it will send word of the gift to President Bush, along with one's own personal message to the President. However, to become a full member of their ¥National Leadership Counsel' which gives one the privilege of attending their national events, one needs to donate $500. The new President indeed seems to be Planned Parenthood's top focus right now, as they are currently running programs titled, "Roe v. Bush," and "Ashcroft Watch," programs meant to keep the new administration from doing anything too damaging to their ongoing pro-choice campaign. Affiliation is a somewhat interesting topic for Planned Parenthood on the Web. On their own site, the only affiliations they show are to their own subsidiaries, such as Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, etc. However, other pro-choice groups list Planned Parenthood as being affiliated with them. Such groups include NARAL and NAL. NARAL, in particular, seems to be heavily affiliated with Planned Parenthood from the NARAL page, yet no mention of NARAL is made on the Planned Parenthood page. NARAL's prime focus seems to be getting their way in Washington. NARAL is split into three separate groups, NARAL, Inc., which, "works through the political and legislative systems to advocate for comprehensive reproductive health policies," NARAL-PAC, "is the driving force behind the election of many pro-choice candidates. NARAL-PAC mounts multi-faceted campaigns, including paid advertisement, and effective get out the vote election day efforts. NARAL-PAC's financial contributions and political advice provide a critical edge to pro-choice candidates." Lastly is the NARAL Foundation which provides, "charitable donations and legal work, and mounts training for grassroots activists."
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2164
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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