My response to James Lankford on his bill defunding Planned Parenthood.

My replies are in blue, the original text is in black. I haven't altered anything in his original message.

I'm going to reply in line to this. 

On Monday, August 3, 2015 9:48 AM, Sen. James Lankford <senator@lankford.senate.gov> wrote:

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August 3, 2015 Dear Ms. Leslie Terrell,   Thank you for taking the time to share your opinions about Planned Parenthood  and the recent videos that were released.    I appreciate your engagement in these  important issues. The recently released videos about Planned Parenthood have shown a callous disregard for human life. Planned Parenthood receives nearly $500 million per year in federal taxpayer   funding.    Congress has an obligation to promote the general welfare and ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely.    It is no secret that I believe it is a child in the womb, not just disposable organic tissue.     They receive that federal funding for other things than abortion.  No one receives federal funding for abortion.  The money can't be used for that---even if it's a procedure being used to remove a dead fetus to protect someone's fertility or life.  S. 1881, of which I am an original cosponsor, redirects funding for Planned Parenthood to community health centers, which serve patients at more than 9,000 locations across the country.  Planned Parenthood is a community health center for many women. I have many friends who received excellent prenatal care at Planned Parenthood. Did you know those community health centers came from Obamacare? Which I'm sure you're at least superficially opposed to?    The bill   ensures there is no reduction in overall federal funding available to support women's health.  Except when they don't have access to care from that federal funding because those health centers aren't in their community yet.  Do you know how nerve wracking it is to have a pelvic exam done by a doctor you don't know?  This would have taken away people's doctor's.    It protects federal funding for health services for women, which may include diagnostic laboratory and radiology services, well-child care, prenatal and postnatal care, immunizations, contraceptives, cervical and breast cancer screenings, and more.   While Americans   certainly disagree   on abortion, we should not force taxpayers, who fundamentally disagree with the practice, to fund it through their federally required tax dollars.     They are not funding it.  Never have been.   I'm going to throw this out there and suggest to you that this deeply personal emotional issue does not need to be settled by the government.   I'm sure that if your daughters got pregnant you would not want the government involved in her health care choices in any way.  Those choices are her own.  It is her body, not yours, not anyone elses.   Brutally honest, I think abortion for birth control is very sad and morally wrong.  I also do not think for a minute that I have the right or the responsibility to force that view on ANYONE.  I know you've watched your wife go through pregnancies, but I have friends who pee a little when they laugh because of their pregnancies, friends who have a prolapsed bladder because of their pregnancies. I have one friend who has nearly died with every one of her children and who has never had an easy birth.  Pregnancy is a big deal.  It is a big medical decision for a woman.  Corpses have a right to bodily autonomy. If I die, someone can't against my will and expressly stated wishes donate my organs.  They can't use my body for science.  That's for a CORPSE.   A living human being should have more rights than a corpse.  Even if she uses those rights to make a shitty decision.   I hope you respect your daughters enough to give them more rights than a corpse.  They are, after all, people.