Planned Parenthood & The Federal Budget

Last month, a bipartisan House of Representatives compromise established a new and higher federal budget debt ceiling. The new debt limit was passed less than two hours before the existing debt limit was scheduled to expire.

This compromise averted a shutdown of the federal government that would stop it from performing services such as the post office and regulatory activities and making payments to federal workers, Social Security recipients, and the military. Our international ability to borrow at favorable rates in the future would have been jeopardized because repayment of existing debt obligations to other countries would have been suspended.

Part of the compromise was the last minute agreement by the Republicans to remove several attached riders they had attached to the spending bill. One of these riders targeted the funding for Planned Parenthood that the GOP viewed and promoted inaccurately as a major provider of abortions. Statistics confirmed the reality that less than 3% of Planned Parenthood's work resulted in arranging for abortions, and none of these required the use of federal funding.

Then, what is the role of Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood is America's most trusted provider of reproductive health care. Its skilled health care professionals are dedicated to offering men, women, and teens, high quality and affordable medical care. One in five American women has chosen Planned Parenthood for health care at least once in her life.

The heart of Planned Parenthood is in the local community. Currently 84 unique, locally governed affiliates nationwide operate more than 800 health centers, which reflect the diverse needs of their communities. These health centers provide a wide range of safe, reliable health care — and more than 90 percent is preventive, primary care, which helps prevent unintended pregnancies through contraception, reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections through testing and treatment, and screen for cervical and other cancers.

Caring physicians, nurse practitioners, and other staff take time to talk with clients, encouraging them to ask questions in an environment that millions have grown to trust.

SIRS Leading Issues provides more than 300 real-world issues that engage students. Common Core Standards in English Language Arts adopted by a majority of the States emphasize persuasive writing and presentation skills.

Each Leading Issue provides students and teachers with an effective way to develop these fundamentals. Scientific research indicates that students, who are engaged in real-world issues that affect them, learn more.

Assign students to select one of four Leading Issues from the Pathfinder listed below. Students should then decide to support either a Pro or Con side of the issue and address the essential question for critical thinking. Have them write a report of at least 150 words or a presentation of at least seven slides that cites at least three resources.

If you're in SIRS Knowledge Source (SKS), click the SIRS Issues Researcher link > Select the VISUAL BROWSE tab > Click Drugs, Health, and Wellness > Birth Control > Click one of the four issues of specific interest

Make students aware of the Notes Organizer tool that helps them copy/paste significant information from their research as well as the original thoughts about their conclusions on the issue. Students should open the issue and locate the Research Tools section.

Click the icon to open Notes Organizer > Select the template "Writing to Persuade-1" > Fill in your details

Our free, interactive Research Tutor for students and teachers can be found here.

ProQuest provides four unique models to promote differentiated instruction.

When you open each issue, click the "My Analysis" icon in the Research Tools section and look under "Additional Resources" for links to these models: Research Guide for the Critical Thinker; Writing a Mini-Research Paper; Creating a PowerPoint Presentation; and Mini-Debate Guide.