“We’re not going to allow, and we’re not going to fund, as long as you have the abortion going on at Planned Parenthood,” said President Donald Trump speaking in Palm Beach, Florida during his campaign.

Planned Parenthood is a non-profit healthcare center that provides cancer screenings and prevention, pregnancy tests, birth control, abortion, adoption referrals, and sexual education, among other services.

Trump’s plan to defund Planned Parenthood will limit availability to safe health care, contraception, and sexual education. Stopping Planned Parenthood from providing education and contraception will lead to more unwanted pregnancies, and therefore, more unplanned children who may be in need of additional social services. This could place a financial burden on taxpayers, and the quality of life of these children would likely be far from ideal.

Planned Parenthood reports that only three percent of their services are abortion related. Many people argue that the organization should be defunded by the government because they disagree with abortion and do not want their tax dollars to support that service.

Title X, part of the United States Public Health Service Act, does not allow government funded abortions, and Medicaid only allows government funding to be used in restricted cases.

The Planned Parenthood 2014-2015 Annual Report says the federal government provided 43 percent of Planned Parenthood’s funding. That is $553.7 million of the total yearly revenue of $1,296.1 million.

Cutting or reducing funding of Planned Parenthood would significantly decrease its ability to help those who benefit from its many services.

Planned Parenthood provides safe, legal abortions. Without that option, some women will take the dangerous risk of performing their own abortion. Someone who wants to end their pregnancy will find means to do so.

A 2014 report by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization for reproductive health and rights, reports that current abortion rates are the lowest that have ever been recorded, with just over fourteen abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15-44 years).

Current rates are lower than in 1973, the year Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide. Also, while some may be personally against abortion, that does not give them the right to not let others have the choice and access to the health care they need.

Although all people deserve equal access to reproductive health care, women of color, immigrant women, and LGBTQ people face disproportionate restrictions on such care. Planned Parenthood fights this issue by increasing awareness of the problem of such restrictions, letting people know about the services they are able to provide, and by advocating for improved policies.

Planned Parenthood is important due to its significant role in reproductive health. The Planned Parenthood 2014-2015 Annual Report states that they provided 635,342 breast exams and pap smears, 2,945,059 birth control related services (including emergency contraception, abortion, and providing information), and 4,218,149 tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections.

These numbers show the tremendous reach of the impact of organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Without them, millions of STIs would go undiagnosed and untreated, countless men and women would be less educated on the importance of effective contraception, and many unsafe pregnancies would be carried to term.

We must protect Planned Parenthood and its government funding to allow them to continue providing important health services. You can help by spreading awareness of the importance of the services they provide, correcting misinformation, donating, or writing to your legislators.