Why our bipartisan system threatens political progress and planned parenthood

America has a bipartisan political system. It can be beautiful in some cases, how sets of ideals bring groups of people together. However, on many issues it threatens the very idea of democracy and creating a cohesive nation of citizens.

With this bipartisan system comes a series of poles. If you believe that gay marriage should be legal you are a Democrat. If you believe in less gun control you are a Republican. I could go on all day here but after listening to a series of somebody’s political opinions you are likely to put them in a box. Republican or Democrat, end of story (I know there are Libertarians, third parties and more, besides the two boxes are what most people go by).

And by that logic if you support Planned Parenthood, believe women should be able to have abortions, and don’t believe federal funding to the organization should be cut off: you are automatically a Democrat.

And in the case of Planned Parenthood, this ideology is particularly dangerous.  Why are our opinions on issues being made into something that is black and white?  Especially as millennials, many of our political ideologies do not fit so neatly.  And this is not an issue that dissolves with age.

As you sit here and read an article where I encourage you to support Planned Parenthood you must think I am a Democrat.  But you are wrong.  I am a Republican, with more conservative fiscal views and more liberal social views.  Not so clean cut.  It’s even less clean cut that I want to pursue infertility medicine and help women have children, but also support a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion.

Life is full of contradictions. It’s messy. It’s not nearly as idealistic as our political system makes it boil down to. We elect politicians because we agree with their values, but the reality is that politicians become pawns in the chess game of what their parties want from them.

What if there was a Republican who wanted to vote against defunding Planned Parenthood?  Pardon my expression, but that kind of move would be considered political “social suicide.”

It’s ironic that in a nation centered around values of freedom of speech we don’t respect those who speak their mind.  Imagine a nation where there were not political parties. Imagine how much more productive we would be.

Imagine a nation without Planned Parenthood. Imagine the disastrous effects for the women who rely on their services whether for abortions or just other health care.  Imagine how horrible it is that we have a Congress so divided that we are caught up in party lines instead of the health of our nation’s women.

Until the system changes (which it probably never will), we must put the politics aside and fight for Planned Parenthood.  Republican or Democrat, this organization is important for so many people.

We are not a nation of Elephants and Donkeys, but a nation of people—people who value the health of each and every citizen.  It’s time to do away with this political zoo, and instead focus on the issues that really matter.