Keeping the Baby, but throwing out the Women with the bathwater

If you have been following the headlines much recently, you may have noticed that Susan G. Komen for the Cure has pulled its contributions to Planned Parenthood with the reasoning that they do not give money to agencies under investigation by Congress.

I know that a lot of anti-abortion people rejoice as Planned Parenthood loses funding.  I understand that Planned Parenthood performs many of our nation's abortions, and I guess that the idea is that if they aren't funded as much, then people won't have as many abortions.  I assume that the symbolism of crushing a huge abortion provider is also appreciated.

The thing that bothers me is that I haven't seen a single anti-abortion person or website acknowledge the fact that there will almost definitely be huge negative consequences for pulling funds from Planned Parenthood.  The consequences, in my opinion, deserve consideration.

Here is a side rant.  You can tell because it's in a new color.  While I want abortion to be gone from the world, there are a few reasons why I really struggle to label myself as "pro-life" in the political sense.  One of the reasons is that I feel like there is too much hypocrisy.  The pro-life politicians are the same ones that do not seem to be worried about providing for our poor.  They are the ones who often do not want the government to guarantee healthcare to everybody (instead letting the free market choose who gets healthcare, I assume).  They are the ones who are more likely to jump at going to war.  They are the ones more likely to support capital punishment.  It is fairly convenient to outlaw abortion.  It is incredibly inconvenient to be willing to give up our resources to help those who need it.  If I am going to jump on the "pro-life" train, I need to know that the train is not only concerned about the rights of the baby before it's born, but also the rights and health of the baby (and mother!) throughout life.  Until then, I continue to stand against abortion, but I view it as a cause that is intermingled with other causes that need to simultaneously be addressed if I say I believe in the value of all life.  Which I find that I do!

*ahem* Back to my main post.  The problem is that Planned Parenthood does more than provide abortions.  It is a huge provider of birth control, cancer screenings, preventative education, STD treatment, menopause treatment, etc.  The kicker?  75% of its clients have incomes at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.  (According to Wikipedia.)  This means that millions of poor women are using the Planned Parenthood facilities to participate in potentially life-saving activities.  Additionally, other services provided (like the STD treatment) are generally just improving the quality of life of the individual receiving treatment.

So why is no anti-abortion person talking about the fact that the defunding of Planned Parenthood will likely cause poor women to be less likely to receive the care that they need?  Why are we praising God that Susan G. Komen is removing its funding for cancer screenings?  Doesn't this appear to be callous?  Isn't there more to be talked about here?  

I think babies are incredibly important people, but I don't want to just keep the babies and throw out the women with the bath water.

Note: As I am about to publish this, I found that Susan G. Komen has decided to continue providing Planned Parenthood the grant money to provide cancer screenings and preventative education.  I hope that we can all agree to celebrate the lives that hopefully will be saved or bettered by the treatments provided through this grant money!

Second Note:  Regarding the investigation... I understand that if Planned Parenthood is illegally using federal funds then, from my understanding, it forfeits the right to those funds.  That is a separate issue.