President Donald J. Trump’s executive order declaring the defunding of specific Planned Parenthood services internationally has angered some Lake Forest College students who hold strong beliefs on affordable healthcare.
While this order has only enacted the defunding of services internationally, individuals across the country are waiting for a bill to be passed by the Trump administration that will defund all branches of Planned Parenthood within the United States, preventing them from providing any services through federal funding.
As college students just on the brink of adulthood, many believe that health care is something that must be acknowledged but that is often not, due to the flurry of other stressors. Yet, for some students such as Camille Krier ’17, it is a likely reality that following graduation day, they will not have access to vital health services due to no longer being insured through Lake Forest College’s health insurance.
“Right now, I am currently insured through the school’s health insurance policy, but that will all end in May when I graduate. After that, I would need to rely on the services provided by Planned Parenthood, because I cannot afford those services on my own,” Krier said.
Over the course of many years, Planned Parenthood has received large amounts of negative backlash from many American citizens due to its active participation in allowing women to receive services for abortions.
“I am vehemently against the defunding of Planned Parenthood services,” Virgil Thomas ’17 said. “Planned Parenthood [is] a name that has become synonymous with sexual promiscuity, costly in upkeep, and abortions. In one of the most successful smear campaigns orchestrated by the far-right, Planned Parenthood has faced a severely damaged reputation. In reality, Planned Parenthood has offered health services to men and women of all ages, all levels of sexual activity, and all socioeconomic statuses,” Thomas said.
Nonetheless, the controversy about abortion policies has allowed people to overlook the other vital health services provided by Planned Parenthood that some students have said they rely on for their routine check-ups, which are even referred by nurse practitioners like Kathy Salinger, associate director of Health Services at the College’s Health and Wellness Center, located in Buchanan Hall on South Campus.
“Statistically, it’s near impossible that women and men on this campus have not benefitted from Planned Parenthood services,” Thomas said. “There is also a high likelihood that there are women on this campus who rely on Planned Parenthood for their routine sexual health check-ups.”
“I know plenty of friends that rely on Planned Parenthood for their reproductive care,” Krier said.
In the event that Planned Parenthood is domestically defunded, the organization could lose an estimated $390 million annually that accounts for over half of Planned Parenthood’s yearly income, according to a 2015 report from the Congressional Budget Office. Outside of federal, state, and local funding, Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization, relies on private donations to remain active. With only these private donations, it is highly unlikely that Planned Parenthood would be able to sustain large cuts to federal funding.
“We have been so fortunate through the Obama administration to have birth control for all insured, and I know there was a lot of pushback from those in the media, but it made a huge impact on college women. The potential loss of Planned Parenthood… I can’t fathom…it’s just frightening,” Salinger said.
While all these services are still offered through Planned Parenthood, they are also available to students on campus at the Health and Wellness Center. Salinger and her staff provide women with access to STI testing, birth control prescriptions, sexual education, and other sexual health necessities, as well as general health check-ups.
On this campus, Krier is just one of many students insured through Lake Forest College’s health insurance policy, but the College’s Health Center allows students to apply for insurance to gain access to the services provided at a nearby location and at an affordable cost. Further information about the policies and benefits can be found at lakeforest.edu/studentlife/health/services.
“I think that there is still a fairly large group of women on campus that don’t know that we provide these services on campus, but I would really like women and men to know that this is a safe space. They can come and ask any questions,” Salinger said.
