Graphic by Lexi Marcellino

As a member of the Roman Catholic Church, I have been taught to believe that all life is sacred. I believe that life should be protected at all stages, from conception to natural death. Abortion is a moral issue. However, since the landmark Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, there has been a political partisanship surrounding a woman’s right to choose.

Republicans in Congress recently threatened to stop government funding for Planned Parenthood after The Center for Medical Progress, a California-based anti-abortion group, released a video on July 14 of Dr. Deborah Nucatola. Dr. Nucatola is the senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and in the video, she discusses the harvesting of aborted fetuses for sale to medical companies.The Center for Medical Progress has accused Planned Parenthood of illegally selling aborted fetuses and participating in illegal abortions.

The problem, however, is not if they were providing aborted fetuses for medical research. It is the distaste in which this doctor described the transport of such fetuses. She expressed a disregard for the security of human life. Three similar videos have surfaced since the initial one.

Planned Parenthood has since denied the allegations, claiming that with the consent of the women who received the abortion, they donated fetal tissue for medical research purposes. Nonetheless, the refusal of Congress to provide funding almost led to yet another government shutdown.

Perhaps the words of a few should not come to serve as a representation for the many, especially since there is heavy debate as to whether the videos had been edited or not. Conservatives are acting through a filter in order to provide any means of justification to their side. What many fail to acknowledge is that abortions only account for around 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s services. 80 percent of its services help prevent unintended pregnancies.

According to Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards, the funding that the federal government currently provides for the organization helps give access to “birth control, cancer screenings, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.” The elimination of funding for this organization would not only be detrimental to the health of women, but would eliminate services that would prevent women from resorting to abortions.

The solution is not to sensationalize Planned Parenthood as a political stunt. Abortion rates have actually gone down nationwide by 12 percent since 2010, according to the Associated Press. Abortion is a much more complex issue than some make it out to be. While I stand with the anti-abortion cause within my religion, we as Americans should follow the principle of the separation of church and state in which our country was founded upon. Planned Parenthood stands for much more than abortion. One should be educated on the whole issue – the whole truth – before acting blindly in the preservation of human life.