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Planned Parenthood - freedom of choice for women

Editor, Index-Tribune:

The Republican-majority House of Representatives recently passed a bill de-funding Planned Parenthood, but the Senate rejected it.

Planned Parenthood offers women's health care prevention programs such as contraception, sexually transmittable disease testing and treatment, cancer screening and testing, pregnancy care, prenatal care, infertility treatments and abortion counseling. This attack on Planned Parenthood is an assault on millions of women nationwide who rely on Planned Parenthood for preventative health-care.

Republicans want to defund Planned Parenthood because of its abortion services but, by law, Planned Parenthood isn't allowed to use federal funds for abortions. To cut Planned Parenthood off from federal funding will do nothing to reduce the deficit and would result in higher costs to society.

What happens if Planned Parenthood closes? Contraception use goes down. Pregnancies go up. Sexually transmitted diseases goes up. Back alley abortions go up.

This is about freedom of choice for women. The Senate should continue to defeat any bill that targets Planned Parenthood.

Tom Sokolowski

Sonoma