After the event”s promotional materials kept getting torn down, Outreach Coordinator Courtney Stoker was worried no one would attend the first monthly Campus Conversation to discuss Planned Parenthood.
But by the time the event began Wednesday afternoon, every seat in the Idaho Commons Aurora room was filled. Overflow attendees even milled around the tables
University of Idaho students and staff gathered around several tables to discuss and debate Planned Parenthood, its role in women”s and sexual health, the recent national controversy and the arson at the Pullman clinic earlier last month.
“In academia especially, it”s easy to get into bubbles where you only talk to people who agree with you, and nothing constructive really comes out of it,” said Stoker, who works for the UI Center for Volunteerism and Social Action. “If you force both radical sides to talk to each other, people will actually begin to understand each other.”
The event featured several guest experts, including representatives from Planned Parenthood, Wish Medical and the UI Women”s Center.
Justin Barnes, a UI advertising professor, said that though everyone at his table had different ideas, experiences and perceptions of Planned Parenthood, everyone fundamentally agreed the services and education provided by the clinics are valuable.
UI student Vivi Gonzalez said before she came to college, she didn”t know anything about Planned Parenthood. Since the Pullman Planned Parenthood clinic closed following a Sept. 4 arson, she said the closure has personally affected her.
“College students don”t have a lot of money to begin with,” Gonzalez said. “I need somewhere affordable to go where I can get my pap smear or an IUD or anything like that.”
Yishan Chen | Argonaut
Students and staff members discuss and debate Planned Parenthood”s role in women”s health at a Campus Conversation Wednesday.
Paul Dillon, a Planned Parenthood representative, said the organization is entirely non-profit, and aims to make basic healthcare and family planning accessible to everyone.
Barnes said he”s had personal experience with Planned Parenthood”s affordability. When his ex-wife went there for an IUD long-term contraceptive it cost her $300. It would have cost her closer to $600 at Moscow Family Medicine, he said.
Discussion participants acknowledged many taxpayers argue they don”t want their dollars going to an abortion clinic.
Yet, according to a fact sheet provided by the moderators, abortions make up only 4.6 percent of services provided at Planned Parenthood clinics in the Greater Washington and North Idaho region – and those services aren”t government-funded.
Gonzalez pointed out that when Planned Parenthood is taken away, it”s not people seeking abortions who are most impacted – it”s people seeking more basic reproductive healthcare, including contraception, cancer screening and STD and pregnancy testing.
Barnes compared government funding of Planned Parenthood to government funding of freeways and infrastructure. While people don”t think of it as an investment, better infrastructure speeds up commerce and pays off in the long run.
“Education and other preventative measures and having resources like this is a good thing,” Barnes said. “It”s not a tax expenditure, it”s an investment – it serves a good purpose, especially for low-income families and individuals both young and old.”
UI Women”s Center Assistant Director Bekah MillerMacPhee said the Palouse lost a valuable resource when a blaze shut down the Pullman Planned Parenthood clinic earlier this month.
“There are other (clinics) in the area,” MillerMacPhee said. “But to take away a resource is not good.”
Steve Davis is the CEO of Wish Medical, a Moscow clinic that provides services comparable to Planned Parenthood. As a faith-based organization, Davis said the clinic does not offer abortions or contraception, but does offer free pregnancy counseling, abortion recovery and STD services.
Dillon said Planned Parenthood will also open a temporary clinic Oct. 12 at 745 Grand Ave. in Pullman. He said it”s impossible to know when the permanent clinic will reopen, since fundraising will mostly pay for the $500,000 project.
The permanent building will be in the same location as the clinic that burned down.
Stoker said next month”s Campus Conversation program will be about the international migrant crisis, and will focus on Idaho”s response to the situation. The event is tentatively scheduled for mid-October.
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @itshannah7