Yes, I believe that at one time Gosnell was affiliated with PP, but the late term abortions for which he was just convicted of (abortions past the time limit PA has set and the death of one women undergoing a late term abortion) were all in his private clinic.

Late term abortion is a sad thing, but they often happen because women simply cannot get health care in time or because of a later pregnancy or fetal problem.

The reason I mentioned Gosnell was that an other poster attributed Gosnell's actions as being typical of Planned Parenthood clinics in general, (as he once worked for them) and I was trying to refute that accusation. Most PPs do not do abortions at the later pregnancy stages that Gosnell did, but an other poster said that his actions were common for PP.

FTR, less than 2% of Planned Parenthood's actions are related to abortion. The rest of their actions are women's health care. less

I actually see a lot of problems for the UK's way of doing abortions. Women would have a harder time getting back to work, especially if they were a poor woman from Northern Ireland who had to go to England for an abortion to begin with, then has to stay overnight, and what does she do with her kids? What if she is a single mom with no family? What if she doesn't want her family to know she is getting an abortion because they will judge or harm her in some way? There are serious domestic violence and class implications of such a system. less

I actually feel almost the opposite of a lot of people, then. I think that they are very important, but feel like abortions should be handled differently.

In the UK, you have to stay the night in the hospital when you get an abortion. This keeps internal bleeding and infection down, helps with the mental state of the patient, and also keeps it from being used as an 'oops' form of birth control (which I hate to say it, but some people treat it like that.)

I think that Planned Parenthood is essential, as many people don't have the resources for proper gynecological health. I feel like if PP went down, many people wouldn't be able to afford proper pregnancy testing (the sooner you find out you're pregnant, the healthier you can live to help your baby), and many people certainly wouldn't be able to get STD testing (which is an utter epidemic in the US. The more people who get tested, the less likely they are to spread it.)

They also are invaluable when it comes to birth control options. If you can't afford condoms, you certainly can't afford a baby, and they hand them out like candy. (This also helps the STD scene) They also give other birth control options out for pretty much free, which helps greatly. If you're born into poverty, you're likely to have a child very young, which keeps you from getting a good job and going to school. Offering birth control to people without insurance helps them get their lives together and get to a better place.

In total, while I don't really agree with their 'in and out' abortion stance and really like the way it's handled elsewhere, I feel like they are EXTREMELY important. less

Abortions take up 3% of all planned parenthood activities, and like many abortion clinics, the procedure is only offered at certain times during designated days of the week. However, this is what most people think of when it comes to PP and cutting fundings. I think part of it is because people dont seem to realize it is illegal to use tax money to fund abortions, and PP is actually heavily funded by private companies.
Many people, men, women or otherwise, use their services since they have very affordable prices. Most of their most used services are cancer screenings, STD & STI testing as well as contraceptive methods (such as BC options as well as vasectomies).
Cutting public funding to PP will spark a rise in unwanted pregnancies as well as "back ally abortions," which will often leave the women and fetus dead. Also this means more "poor" people will be left without an affordable resource to important things such as cancer screenings and STD/STI testing, meaning there could likely be a rise is STD/STIs, HIV and AIDs among marginalized groups of people with lower incomes.
PP also helps a lot in communities spreading awareness about safe sex practices and teaching children the value and safety of these practices.

Their staff is non-judgmental and LGBTQ friendly, and for many women it's considered a safe space to get treatment or testing done. Closing or cutting public (as well as private) funding would really mess up so many communities. less