Happy Holidays! Here’s An Abortion!

December 4, 2008 - 12:00 pm By Lauren - University of Michigan

cc-abortion.jpg

I am all about creative gift giving for the holidays (homemade cookbook filled with the best drunk food recipes? Oh yeah), but even I am not sure about the most recent promotion from Planned Parenthood.Gift certificates.

For abortions.

I am about as liberal as they come (as many of the CollegeCandy readers have pointed out), but I don’t know about this one. Will this be viewed as helpful to a woman in need, or simply a promotion of using abortion as a form of birth control? Is Planned Parenthood reaching out to women without healthcare, or are they drawing unnecessary attention to an already controversial subject?

Plus, how would you feel if someone got that for you?

I really don’t know how to feel on this subject, so I thought I’d put it out to you. What do you think of Planned Parenthood’s new promotion?

15 Comments   Posted in Body, News
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15 Comments on "Happy Holidays! Here’s An Abortion!"

  1. Jes- USouthAL says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 200812:45 pm 

    Oh man, I’m liberal too, but I think this is just a ridiculously stupid idea.

    Just because you believe abortions should be a legal, viable option doesn’t mean you go around handing out cards for free ones???

    No one WANTS to have an abortion, so I dont understand how this could be a ‘gift’ when the need to have one is always unexpected and out of the blue, I’d imagine… wtf.

  2. Jes- USouthAL says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 200812:46 pm 

    Although it would be a funny ass gag-gift for some people… ha.

    “Here’s a free abortion! Merry Christmas!” lol

    The sad part comes in when the gift certificate is actually valid… yeeesh!

  3. Nik says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 200812:53 pm 

    I thought that the gift certificate was for birth control or testing– which makes sense. Are you sure this is abortion certificate is real?

  4. Lauren, University of Michigan says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 200812:55 pm 

    It can be used for abortions (or any service they offer)

  5. Nik says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 200812:57 pm 

    Ah okay. As long as it doesn’t straight up say that it is for abortion. I don’t know, I think that it would be kind of a nice gift to get someone birth control, or a new partner one to get tested together.

  6. Marian says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 20081:06 pm 

    I think this post is misleading. If you go to the article that is cited in this post, you will find that Planned Parenthood is making available general gift certificates that can be used for any of their services, such as contraceptives and other health services, including abortions. The actually certificate does not state: “Merry Christmas! I heard you wanted an abortion – here you go!” The gift certificates are for ALL Planned Parenthood services.

  7. Jamie says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 20082:31 pm 

    This article is very misleading. It also perpetuates the cause of certain pro-life groups trying to stop the gift certificates from being made available. The gift certificates are for any service they perform ( abortions are only 10% of the services they perform f.y.i.). In this day and age where it is both expensive and in some areas nearly impossible to obtain birth control or other sexual health services, I think it is a great idea to have gift certificates to alleviate the absurd costs for a pack of birth control pills or a physical examination.

  8. calrose says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 20085:00 pm 

    I agree with you guys-this post is way off the mark. Please don’t put post such misleading information that is obviously meant to piss people off.

  9. Thalassa says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 20087:43 pm 

    I agree with the comments above, re: the post is misleading. The gift certificates were introduced by Planned Parenthood of Indiana in order to meet a need they perceived. Women who were recently unemployed or uninsured were calling in asking how much birth control and Pap smears would cost them at a PP Clinic. They decided gift certs the could be used toward preventive health care would be a really nice gift idea, but declined to put restrictions on the use because women who have insurance could more easily use them to cover their copayments that way. (PP accepts insurance for their health services, as long as your insurance plan covers them.) The right-wingers got hold of that information, and even though 87,000 of PP Indiana’s 92,000 clients last year were there for something OTHER than abortion, they started screaming that PP was selling “abortion gift certificates”.

  10. Kay says:
    Thu, 4th Dec 200811:06 pm 

    I would have loved one of these when I younger. I’ve never had an abortion and would prefer never to get one, but in high school I got all my birth control from Planned Parenthood, and it was a big financial commitment. Birth control is incredibly expensive and oftentimes isn’t covered by medial insurance. Most of the services Planned Parenthood provides, like more affordable birth control, help prevent unintended pregnancies and do more to prevent abortions then most pro life activists.

    If anything, the existence of this as a gift just sadly reflects on the state of our national health care system, particularly for women’s health.

    The title of the post and image are misleading and disgusting. That is not what the gift certificates look like.

    Lastly, the prevalence of “abortion as a form of birth control” is a MYTH perpetuated by anti choice activists. Abortion is an expensive and invasive procedure. I can’t imagine a woman who could afford, in terms of money OR her health, to get constant abortions. Getting one abortion, especially a late term one, costs more than months and months worth of birth control, and I highly doubt any insurance company would cover an excessive amount of repeat abortions, or any reputable clinic performing them.

  11. Alice says:
    Fri, 5th Dec 20084:43 am 

    I don’t think it’s so much disgusting as just tacky – like getting someone paper clips or socks.

  12. Tessa says:
    Fri, 5th Dec 20089:53 am 

    Considering that thousands upon thousands of Americans do not have any form of health insurance, I think this is a great idea. It is vital that a woman gets an annual Pap smear and so many women forgo this medical treatment since they cannot afford it. Planned Parenthood has come up with an ingenious way to show that women’s health is just as valuable and important a gift to give or receive as any consumer good is hailed as. And I know a few of my just out-of-college girlfriends who could definitely use this as their present.

  13. Madeline says:
    Tue, 9th Dec 200812:07 am 

    You know, althought I am prochoice, I do not think abortion sohuld be used as a form of birth control. It shuld be used under only the circumstance of a true mistake. Abortions shouldn’t be handed out like coupons. If money is the deal, there are plenty enough places you can get them for free or for limited amounts of money if you aren’t very dense-headed and know how to research.

  14. malissalinn says:
    Wed, 10th Dec 20082:10 pm 

    That’s pretty sad. An abortion is not a decision to make in haste, or take lightly. There are so many risks involved, health problems, scarring, infertility. Way to make young women feel that abortion is a safe and normal form of birth control. How mis-leading and deranged. This has got to be some nasty joke, no?

  15. Rie says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 200910:55 am 

    These gift certificates can be used towards exams, contraceptives, AND abortions. I’m betting that most people who get a hold of one of these certificates with use them for the first two services rather than the one.

    It’s not like $25 would completely cover the cost of an abortion anyways… It could, however help pay for a few months worth of birth control, or antibiotics for a UTI or yeast infection.

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