On February 18, the US House voted to eliminate all Title X federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which gets about a third of its funding from the federal government. That money, by federal law, can't pay for abortion (which makes up a minuscule percentage of Planned Parenthood's services anyway); instead, it funds preventative services such as cancer screenings, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, mammograms, pregnancy screening and counseling, and birth control.

The Guttmacher Institute, a nonpartisan group that researches reproductive health worldwide, estimates that publicly funded family planning sevices like Planned Parenthood prevent 1.94 million unplanned pregnancies and 810,000 abortions every year.

Here's what eliminating federal Planned Parenthood funding would mean for Washington State, which received $4.5 million in Title X federal funding in 2006, according to Guttmacher's research:

25,700 more unplanned pregnancies.

11,400 more unplanned children.

10,700 more abortions.

All of which will cost the state an additional $183 million a year.

Walk for Choice rallies are happening all over the country this Saturday; join Seattle's march at noon on the corner of Broadway and Pine.