The mission to defund Planned Parenthood may switch from a basis in abortion to one in transgenderism. It’s still a pro-life angle, but one more indirect than the movement has hoped.
That is the general tread of popular social politics: Transgenderism is fading, despite Democratic and Antifa efforts on its behalf, and becoming an issue convincing to a great swath of people. Especially as President Donald Trump’s immigration actions take a more polarizing character, gender identity and child hormone treatments remain stolid. So much has the issue gained commonsense status that the Trump administration has targeted it, along with diversity- and COVID-related aims, in pulling billions in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Planned Parenthood seems next in line.
The organization is situated comfortably in its private funding, cushioned by the nearly $700 million of federal funding it received in 2023. Taxpayer dollars make up much of it, going toward a focus on abortion — and voters seem fine with that reality. As evidence of Planned Parenthood’s involvement in prescribing hormones to minors emerges, however, defunding is restressed and public support for it strengthened. Pro-life nonprofit group Live Action conducted an undercover investigation proving Planned Parenthood does so via telehealth:
But what of Planned Parenthood’s most evil work? Transgenderism, and the denial of its root in mental illness, is an outcome of broad dehumanization, which has for itself the major catalyst of abortion acceptance. The administration likely will persecute Planned Parenthood — as it already has on the grounds of diversity, equity, and inclusion grounds — and will continue to promote in vitro fertilization. Meanwhile, the thousands of harms done by abortion, IVF, and surrogacy will multiply.
These harms include the number of children killed — IVF takes more lives per year than abortion — as well as the pain women experience in the process. Women are encouraged to choose routes such as surrogacy and the abortion pill, and later experience inarticulable confusion over what they felt. See this profile of celebrities’ fertility struggles and surrogacy experiences for a glimpse into the reality that women “never feel peace with it, ever.”
A RED PILL ON PRO-LIFE OPTIMISM
Neither their physical nor emotional pains, which culminate in the shame that progressive culture is bent on eliminating, will be addressed. The result owes itself to an absolute refusal to characterize anti-life methods as what they are. That insistence is one major work of Planned Parenthood, and as such is a downstream effect of its funding.
So, maybe the shift to transgenderism is worth it if it eliminates some of the organization’s impact. The effort against transitioning children is still rooted in a defense of human life, to be sure. But that does make the cultural element of the pro-life task all the more convoluted: Defunding Planned Parenthood on the basis of child abuse should clarify the anti-abortion position, not delay it. Given the political system, that is probably not what will happen.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
