The recent vilification of Planned Parenthood by conservative members of Congress has once again stirred up the decades-old abortion debate.

Additionally, a video circulating around the Internet allegedly showing Planned Parenthood selling tissue harvested from aborted fetuses turned out to have been heavily edited by an anti-abortion group. Thus, it was…not true.

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding about what Planned Parenthood actually does.

For one thing, it is a not an abortion clinic. And it does not harvest fetal parts from still breathing fetuses on operating tables. And, no, it doesn’t push women into having abortions.

According to Planned Parenthood’s website, abortions only account for three percent of its overall services. Forty-one percent of those services involve testing and treating sexually transmitted infections and sexually transmitted diseases. Another ten percent, goes towards cancer screening and prevention.

Planned Parenthood receives about $500 million in federal funding, none of which goes towards abortions (that is not allowed by federal law).

Federal funding is strictly used for family planning and other medical services for women on Medicaid, according to Mother Jones magazine.

In simpler terms, this means that abortions do not even account for one-twentieth of the services the organization provides to women.

Consistent with its purpose as a family planning organization, Planned Parenthood reported it provides contraceptives to almost 40 percent of women who rely on government public programs, according to Mother Jones.

When the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform grilled Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, the committee members were more focused on how much she gets rather than the videos that started this whole debacle.

The entire hearing was a sham designed to allow those politicians to posture for their more conservative constituents back home in an election year.

To be completely honest, I’m annoyed. When I open up the newspaper, I don’t want to read about how my choices as a woman are being limited by what conservative naysayers want.

I saw a photo depicting a woman holding a sign that said, “My health is not a political issue.” She is right.

My health—and the health of any woman —is not a political issue.

I wish some politicians would stop trying to make decisions about my body for me. I have the right to visit a Planned Parenthood clinic and to take advantage of the services it offers—regardless of whether it’s for family planning purposes or a cancer screening.

That’s the real truth.