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Planned Parenthood's brilliant ad features an unexpected supporter: Donald Trump.

Millions of women rely on Planned Parenthood for lifesaving care.

In 2013, Jaime Benner discovered a lump in her right breast. She credits Planned Parenthood with saving her life.

Her primary care provider couldn't get her in for a screening for three weeks. Not only was Planned Parenthood able to get her in for an appointment that day, but they stood with her through the process of getting a referral for an emergency mammogram and beyond.

[rebelmouse-image 19473195 dam="1" original_size="750x390" caption="Image via Planned Parenthood Action/YouTube." expand=1]Image via Planned Parenthood Action/YouTube.

"The radiologist report came back inconclusive," she says. "But Planned Parenthood refused to accept that answer and sent me for further testing."

Two and a half weeks later, she underwent a complete radical mastectomy. "By the time I had my mastectomy, which was only a few weeks later, my cancer was spreading into my lymphatic system," she adds. "A day could have been the difference between the stage 3b cancer I had and stage 4."

Benner is the face of a new campaign to help save the organization's federal funding in a video that features an unexpected voice of support: Donald Trump.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump occasionally toed the Republican Party line in opposition to Planned Parenthood while other times he spoke frankly, sharing a important truths about just how vital the organization's services are to millions of people.

In a new 30-second ad for Planned Parenthood, Benner tells her own story, accompanied by clips of Trump, speaking in his own words about why Planned Parenthood matters. The video includes the notable moment from a Republican primary debate when he said, "Millions and millions of women — cervical cancer, breast cancer — are helped by Planned Parenthood."

[rebelmouse-image 19473196 dam="1" original_size="450x252" caption="Fact: 2.5 million people will visit one of Planned Parenthood's 650 locations this year. GIF via Planned Parenthood Action/YouTube." expand=1]Fact: 2.5 million people will visit one of Planned Parenthood's 650 locations this year. GIF via Planned Parenthood Action/YouTube.

That wasn’t  the only time Trump defended Planned Parenthood. In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity in August 2015, Trump debunked the idea that the group is first and foremost an abortion provider — a claim that serves as the source of much of the controversy surrounding the organization — correctly noting that abortion is "actually a fairly small part of what they do."

If Planned Parenthood weren't around, people like Benner couldn’t just go somewhere else. There aren’t other local health clinics that can cover that patient load.

An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found that defunding Planned Parenthood would have a disastrous effect on women’s health care options, especially those who rely on Medicaid.

[rebelmouse-image 19473197 dam="1" original_size="450x253" caption="GIF via Planned Parenthood Action/YouTube." expand=1]GIF via Planned Parenthood Action/YouTube.

"Not only did Planned Parenthood get me the testing I needed to find out I had cancer, they got everything together to get me Medicaid so I would have coverage," Benner says. "I'm not sure if you've ever looked into the costs associated with cancer, but one shot I used after chemo was $7,000 a syringe each time. I'm sure most average people couldn't afford to purchase one of those every two weeks."

[rebelmouse-image 19473198 dam="1" original_size="750x377" caption="Benner underwent aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Image via Planned Parenthood Action/YouTube." expand=1]Benner underwent aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Image via Planned Parenthood Action/YouTube.

Benner isn't alone. It's estimated that 1 in 5 women in the U.S. has visited a Planned Parenthood health center. While Republican politicians have the organization in their crosshairs, a majority of Americans (including a majority of Republicans, as a group) oppose cutting off funds to Planned Parenthood, with a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll finding that 75% of the public opposes cutting the group's funding.

Planned Parenthood is a lifeline for people of all political ideologies, and Donald Trump — clearly — knows it. The question remains, however, whether he and others will cut it off anyway.

"We have to help women," Trump said during the 2015 interview with Hannity. "A lot of women are helped [by Planned Parenthood]."

Now stuck between his pledge to "help women" and his promise to defund Planned Parenthood, Trump needs to choose one or the other. Benner, and millions of women like her, hope he’ll stand on the side of survivors.

GIF from Fox News/YouTube.

Using Trump's own words to make a point about why it's necessary to save Planned Parenthood is a pretty genius — and hopefully effective — move.

Watch Brenner and Trump make the case for protecting Planned Parenthood in 30 seconds below.

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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dogs
Family

Pediatrician shares two simple tips that could save a child's life at a pool party

"The more folks present, the safer the pool is, right? Wrong."

Photo by Ash Dowie on Unsplash

If there's a body of water anywhere, a designated adult needs to have their eyes on it.

It's that time of year when the weather across the country is warm enough for families to enjoy outdoor barbecues, picnics and pool parties. That means it's also the time of year when tragedy will strike a certain percentage of families who get blindsided by how quickly and easily a child can drown in a backyard pool, even when they're surrounded by people who care about them and their safety.

We've all been at a gathering where adults are coming and going, chatting, setting up food, taking trips to the bathroom, all while kids are busy playing in the water. In such scenarios, it's easy to assume that someone else is keeping an eye on the pool.

But as pediatrician Diane Arnaout has shared, the harrowing reality is that the more people there are at a pool party the more likely it is that a child could slip into the pool or become distressed in the water without anyone noticing.

In a Facebook post that has been shared more than 77,000 times, Dr. Arnaout wrote:

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pool safety
Pop Culture

Crying fan embraced by Drew Barrymore explains why the moment was 'super special'

"Like myself, Drew has had a super hard life," she said.

via Eva Rinaldi/Flickr

Drew Barrymore speaks during the FLOWER Beauty launch at Westfield Parramatta on April 13, 2019, in Sydney, Australia.

Drew Barrymore, 48, has been in the public consciousness since she starred as Gertie in 1982’s mega-blockbuster, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. So, it makes sense that many people of a certain age feel as if they’ve grown up with her.

Now, she’s an even more significant part of people’s lives as the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which runs every weekday on CBS.

On May 25, the show’s Instagram page posted a touching video of an off-the-cuff moment between Barrymore and a fan during a taping of her show. In the clip, Barrymore realizes that someone in the audience is crying. So, instead of ignoring the fan, she jumps to action to see what is the matter.

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drew barrymore
Pop Culture

Musician uses traditional Chinese instrument to create hypnotic cover of 'Hotel California'

There are literally hundreds of covers of this song floating around on the internet, but this one has its own unique flair.

Moyun/Youtube

Moyun peforms "Hotel California" on the guzheng.

The Eagles' hit song, “Hotel California,” has been covered countless times over the years by a variety of artists, including the likes of Nancy Sinatra, the Gypsy Kings and that guy at your local karaoke spot.

And while every rendition gives the song a fresh dynamic, one musician with a penchant for mystery has transformed the rock n’ roll staple into something entirely new.

Using a traditional Chinese string instrument called a guzheng, Moyun plays the song focusing mostly on its two guitar solo arrangements, creating a sound that has all the otherworldly beauty of an ancient folk tale.
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music
Pop Culture

Man rewatches shows from his childhood and his recaps of the bonkers storylines are priceless

Rob Anderson's hilarious recaps of shows like "Mighty Ducks," "Beethoven," and "7th Heaven" might make you wonder how they got made in the first place.

@hearthrobert/TikTok

These plots makes zero sense.

While there are no doubt some timeless classics from our childhood that remain every bit as amazing as we remember, many are straight-up cringey upon a later viewing. Really, it’s to be expected as societal viewpoints change…sort of a marker of how far we’ve collectively come.

And so, what do we do with these problematic pieces of old-school pop culture? Well, we can certainly update them to better reflect a more modern attitude, but that also comes with a set of potential problems. Or we could simply never watch them again. Certainly an option given all the content out there. But then we might miss an opportunity to better understand what seemed to work for the mainstream then, and why it doesn’t work now.

And then there’s the third option—allow ourselves to be entertained by their cringiness.

That’s certainly the route taken by Rob Anderson. Over on TikTok, Anderson has taken ultra-popular movies and television shows from his childhood and given them hilarious recaps capturing how absurd some of the storylines are.
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movies
Joy

Woman decides that she is the love of her life and marries herself at her retirement home

“I said, you know what, I’ve done everything else. Why not?”

KCEN|YouTube

77-year-old woman decides she's the love of her life and marries herself.

We joke about marrying ourselves or a platonic friend if some arbitrary amount of time has passed without a proposal from an imaginary suitor. And sure, some people do wind up marrying a friend in more of a business arrangement, but it's not very common that someone follows through with marrying themselves.

Dorothy "Dottie" Fideli, decided that she was going to break the mold. The 77-year-old sat down and thought about all of the things she had done in life and who was with her the entire time cheering her on. It was an easy answer: herself. She was her biggest cheerleader, the person who always showed up and the love of her life, so Fideli made the plan to marry herself.

On a beautiful May day, friends and family gathered in the O’Bannon Terrace Retirement Community, where Fideli is a resident, to witness the ceremony.

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