title:  Jennifer Lawrence: When You Attack Planned Parenthood, You’re Attacking All Women
text: Jennifer Lawrence has been speaking her mind lately. In an interview with GLAMOUR, the Academy Award-winning actress went no-holds-barred on a lot of issues, including the recent attacks on Planned Parenthood. She said: It s so awful. It isn t an attack on abortions; it s an attack on women. Because Planned Parenthood is so much more [than abortion]. My mom was really religious with me when I was young. She s not so much anymore. And I wouldn t have been able to get birth control if it weren t for [Planned Parenthood]. I wouldn t have been able to get condoms and birth control and all these things I needed as a normal teenager who was growing up in a Jesus house. Lawrence was referring to the November attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, when Robert Lewis Dear killed three people and wounded nine. Planned Parenthood, which delivers sex education and reproductive health care to women, has faced attacks before. There have been three attacks since September after an anti-abortion group accused Planned Parenthood of selling baby parts. The flames were fanned by Republicans, including presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who said: They were certainly caught on film, that there is no doubt that they were selling baby parts. That is unambiguous. The videos show senior Planned Parenthood officials selling the parts of unborn children, and it is a federal criminal offense. It s a felony to sell the body parts of unborn children for profit. That accusation has proven to be false, but the damage done when a public figure makes such statements is enormous, similar to Trump s verbal attacks on Islam, which has caused a spike in attacks on Muslims across the United States. Lawrence s feelings about the Republican party are already documented: I was raised a Republican, but I just can t imagine supporting a party that doesn t support women s basic rights. Lawrence believes that Planned Parenthood provides important services to women, and she was horrified by the recent attacks. She said: I am a successful woman who has not had a pregnancy . [Laughs] But seriously. What harm comes from supplying people with birth control, condoms, Pap smears, and cancer screenings? She s right. Planned Parenthood provides services to women that they wouldn t have access to otherwise. A recent study shows: For the millions of poor women who depend on Planned Parenthood clinics, this scenario would mean the loss of affordable and accessible contraceptive services and counseling, as well as breast and cervical cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Later in the interview, Lawrence was asked why she decided to take a stand on major issues. She said: I keep going back and forth on being opinionated  My business is based on everybody buying tickets and seeing my movie. It s not smart, business-wise, to be opinionated. But then what s the point in having a voice at all if I m not going to use it for what I truly believe in? You can read a transcript of Jennifer Lawrence s full interview here.