Stumped about what to get your gal for Valentine’s Day? Tired of the usual chocolates and flowers? Are giant teddy bears just too cliché?
Never fear, fellas! The always thoughtful folks at Planned Parenthood know what the ladies are into. Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, has joined Senator Nancy Pelosi to tell the world “#WhatWomenNeed.” And apparently it’s abortions (only the “safe +legal” ones). Because nothing says, “I adore you” quite like death.
To be far, Richards takes to Twitter and other social media to remind men that we also want preventative care, maternity care, birth control, and cancer screenings. You know, the things Planned Parenthood provides. For a fee. So #WhatWomenNeed is to keep Planned Parenthood in business? Am I pretty close there?
Oh wait, you mean you want women to get those things for free right? Because we already have some of the best doctors and hospitals on the planet. Your clinics already give out free condoms and other birth control at reduced rates. Abortion is already legal, too. (Further restrictions on abortions would rid the world of the Kermit Gosnell types. Do you really want to argue the merits of “safe” when your political stance keeps jerks like that in business? I bet not).
I think I’m starting to catch on. You want the government to pay for all of these things. And they’d be paying you. Excuse me for overstating the obvious, but it would seem Cecile Richards has about $444,468 reasons (give or take) to want the government to give women what she thinks they need.
I can’t quite figure out where the #WhatWomenNeed movement came from. It popped up on Maria Schriver’s site in a blog discussing an in depth report released by The Schriver Report and the Center for American Progress. “A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink will examine the rates of financial insecurity among American women and the children who depend on them, investigate the impact of it on our nation’s institutions and economic future, and promote modern solutions to help women strengthen their financial status.”
Perusing the report, I’m struck by several things. First, it’s less a “report” than a who’s who collection of essays by the likes of LeBron James, Beyoncé, Eva Longoria and Jennifer Garner. Essentially a fluffy girl power collective, it does contain kernels of hard truth. Ann O’Leary writes, “Stable relationships matter. Those on the left and right should acknowledge their shared agreement that a stable relationship is the preferable family form for raising children, and that married relationships tend to be more stable than other relationships as a whole. Our public policies should encourage marriage or stable cohabiting relationships.”
It’s too bad the #WhatWomenNeed campaign didn’t borrow a little more heavily from her essay. Women need healthy, stable relationships. Women need strong families that include husbands. Women need to know that while it’s ok to be the provider, it’s also ok to marry one. Maybe Cecile Richards will hold up a new sign.
Never mind.
“Safe + Legal Marriage” isn’t good for business.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4338#.UvpJSPldVu0
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