Planned Parenthood:  The Abortion I Didn’t Have

I was born the fifth child in a family of 13 kids. My parents were itinerant laborers. I tell people that I grew up “in a blue bus” driven from state to state by my father – and that I “grew up under a bridge.” Those who hear it sometimes think I must be joking. I’m not. God and Jesus? For many years, I thought they were nothing more than curse words.

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We were often on welfare and blaming others for our situation – and expecting them to "fix" our lives. We were told by our parents that it was the government's fault – or “the white man’s fault” – that we were poor and uneducated. We were told by the government that we should get on public assistance, learn to take care of babies, and live off the system. After all, statistics proved that would be our outcome. When I was 12 years old, I left the family "unit" to attend school. I relied, totally, on “the kindness of strangers.” But at 16 -- and a few months away from high school graduation -- I became pregnant by my older boyfriend. I decided to give the baby up to an adoptive family. But when I sought help to from Planned Parenthood others, they advised me to abort. I remember literally pleading for help in finding an adoption situation but was told I should have an abortion. With no family, place to live, or help of any kind, it would have been an "easy" choice, and I understand why women in crisis choose to abort. Abortion is cheap, quick, easy, and "painless.” Although schools, clinics, and some churches offer counseling, education, and contraceptives, in the U.S. we still abort an average 1.2 MILLION babies a year. Clearly, abortion has become a multi-million dollar industry and a highly utilized form of birth control. Planned Parenthood provides over 300,000 pregnancy terminations per year and charges $350-$950 per abortion (Link) Planned Parenthood also owns 28% of the abortion market, and last year abortions alone provided earned $137,389,500 of their total income of $374,700,000. That accounts for nearly 37% of Planned Parenthood's health center income. What is it that entitles such a wealthy enterprise to receive taxpayer funding? That’s a question without an answer. The BILLIONS of dollars awarded to PP through Title X may not be used directly to pay for these abortions. Yet the grim reality is that they’re being used to subsidize an organization that practices abortion en masse -- and benefits richly from it. I ended up giving birth to my child – I named him Emanuel – a week before my seventeenth birthday. Through the voluntary benevolence of good people, an education, cleaning many floors & toilets, and the GRACE of God, I finished high school and college without relying on perpetual government assistance. Today, that child is a twenty year old man who is a good son, brother, employee, and newly enlisted soldier. In a society that often values convenience over conscience, we may never reverse Roe v. Wade. Far into the future, abortion may remain legal. However, that does not mean those us morally opposed to abortions must subsidize them or organizations that benefit from it. I believe that abortion is yet another SYMPTOM of a broken culture. Yes, we must defund it and condemn it. But we also we also must articulate our conviction with reason and compassion. Otherwise we are just another group of "clamoring gongs and banging symbols." Let's not forget: WE are ALL in this thing, the one called “life,” TOGETHER. Rebecca Cervera lives in McAllen, Texas, the Rio Grande Valley. She’s a mother of four boys, ages 5 to 20, a musician, and a businesswoman. She’s leading the fight in South Texas against drug dealers, human traffickers, and corrupt politicians. Rebecca is considering a run for the US House in 2012.

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