Planned Parenthood has withdrawn from Title X funding rather than refuse to counsel its clients on abortion services. Media are mostly reporting on how this will affect the ability to receive abortions. But The New York Times got the headline right: it just got harder to get birth control.
Abortion is a controversial issue. While the majority want it to remain legal in most cases, most people also shudder at certain right-wing talking points like “abortion on demand.” The median position in America is basically “anti-abortion but pro-choice.” Bill Clinton said that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.” Most voters agreed with that.
But Planned Parenthood is about much more than abortion. Abortion constitutes only a small fraction of its services. Some on the left have tried to make that point by using the term “women’s health” and accusing the right of a “war on women.” The problem with that strategy is that people don’t believe it. Plenty of women support the right wing. Voters are not swayed by the fear of a general “attack on women” that is so ill-defined.
Birth control, however, is real, well-defined, and truly under attack. Most people use birth control. Most people support the availability of birth control. And the right wing hates birth control because they don’t think women have the right to make their own choices about sex. They want the so-called “bad girls” to pay the price for having sex. And Planned Parenthood, first and foremost, is about access to birth control. That is why the right wing hates Planned Parenthood.
Thus, when discussing the right-wing attacks on Planned Parenthood, the focus must be on birth control. Every defense of Planned Parenthood must be a defense of the right to birth control. Conservatives are attacking the right to birth control. Conservatives hate birth control, and they are trying to take it away. This has the virtue not only of being true, but also of framing the issue in the way that will resonate with everyone.