This Love Letter to Planned Parenthood Pulls All the Heartstrings, Thanks to Lena Dunham – Kveller
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This Love Letter to Planned Parenthood Pulls All the Heartstrings, Thanks to Lena Dunham

As a way to celebrate Planned Parenthood’s centennial, Lena Dunham made the organization the greatest birthday card/love letter ever: A short animated film called “100 Years” that traces the organization’s progress since it was founded in 1916.

While Lena Dunham may have spearheaded the project, she didn’t do it alone–she was able to recruit famous stars like Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, America Ferrera, Constance Wu, Mindy Kaling, Hari Nef, and more, to help narrate the film. Meanwhile J.J. Abrams co-produced the video, while Dunham’s boyfriend, Jack Antonoff, did the music for it. In the press release, Dunham wrote that she wanted to make “a piece of art that can educate Americans not just about what Planned Parenthood does but on the battles that have been fought in order to get here.”

Since the GOP-led Congress has been clear about its plans to defund the organization, Dunham went on to say that “[w]e are now tasked with embodying the spirit of these fighters once more.” In her Lenny Letter yesterday, the Jewish actress also said that we need to keep fighting, even if it seems useless:

“We need to remind ourselves that our voices are essential, that our support needs to make noise. Planned Parenthood spends every day thinking critically and working to do better, staying open despite how hard the world tries to shut them down. Its leaders fight complacency in the world, and they never stop fighting it within themselves. That’s a lesson we can all use.”

This video is especially relevant now that the national version of the Heartbeat Bill, a bill that would basically ban abortion at about six weeks of gestation, was introduced last week in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, which is sponsored by Representative Steve King, a Republican from Iowa, could potentially challenge Roe v. Wade. In Roe, the point of viability is established at 24-weeks, which is the legal standard for abortion.

King is adamant about the heartbeat protecting the baby, as he said in a statement:

“Human life, beginning at the moment of conception, is sacred in all of its forms and today, I introduced a bill that will protect the lives of voiceless innocents. My legislation will require all physicians, before conducting an abortion, to detect the heartbeat of the unborn child. If a heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected.”

I personally find this scary, as it is trying to limit the time frame women can have abortions–which takes away not only a woman’s agency, but ignores her health (as sometimes women have to undergo abortions for health reasons later in their pregnancy). This type of attitude and ideology isn’t going away anytime soon either, as Kentucky and Ohio have passed laws banning abortion at 20 weeks.

Don’t forget to watch the video below:

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