Planned Parenthood Federation of America, an organization founded by Margaret Sanger in 1916, receives $500 million in federal funding every year. Mission statement: A reason for being. Planned Parenthood is one of the nation's prominent providers of inexpensive health care for women, men, and young people, and the country's biggest provider of sex education ("Planned Parenthood at a Glance," 2014). .
Half of Planned Parenthood patients depend on federally funded Medicaid in order to have access to affordable, preventive care. The other half of patients rely on the federally funded Title X. Title X is a family development program that is available to those who do not have insurance or are not covered by Medicaid, regardless of their ability to pay. Neither Medicaid nor Title X will cover the costs of abortions due to the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment, which was enacted in 1976, is a governmental establishment that prevents certain federal funds from going towards abortion-related services ("Public Health Care Funding: The Battle Over Planned Parenthood"). The United States should cut Planned Parenthoods funding because, contrary to the belief that the organization is one of a kind, many other health service centers provide the exact same services, yet do not receive $500+ million in federal funding annually.
On September 18, 2015, The House of Representatives successfully voted to defund Planned Parenthood, 241-to-187 ("House Votes to defund Planned Parenthood"). Some individuals supported the defunding, expressing that other medical facilities are just as qualified as Planned Parenthood to provide inexpensive health care to those with low income ("No Funding for Planned Parenthood – No Problem"). Furthermore, supporters of defunding believe that one of the services provided by Planned Parenthood are morally wrong, such as abortion, and illegal, such as the selling of fetus body parts ("House Votes to defund Planned Parenthood").