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Facilities and fundingPPFA are a federation of 120 independent Planned Parenthood affiliates around the United States. These affiliates together operate 817 locations, offering a variety of services to more than 5 million women, men and teens each year. Services include abortion services, contraceptive (birth control) services; emergency contraception; screening for breast, cervical and testicular cancers; pregnancy testing and pregnancy options counseling; ; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases; sexuality education, menopause treatments; vasectomies and tubal ligations, and more. Not all services are available at all locations.
Planned Parenthood receives almost a third of its money in government grants and contracts ($265.2 million in FY 2004). It received $306.2 million in clinic income that year, $191 million in private contributions and bequests, $40 million in other income and $7.6 million from the Alan Guttmacher Institute for a total of $810 million.[3] Some pro-life organizations which morally disagree with Planned Parenthood's mission and services have set up campaigns and petitions to stop Planned Parenthood from receiving government funding.[4] History and organizationPlanned Parenthood began as the National Birth Control League, which was founded in 1916 under the leadership of Mary Ware Dennett. The organization was later renamed the American Birth Control League under the direction of Margaret Sanger. The League was influential in liberalizing laws against birth control throughout the 1920s and 1930s before changing its name to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. in 1942.
Faye Wattleton was President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1978 to 1992. She was the youngest person and first African American appointed to that position in the organization's history, and the second woman to hold the office (founder Margaret Sanger was the first). During her term in office, the organization considerably expanded its services, and became publicly visible in working for women's reproductive rights. On February 15, 2006, Cecile Richards, daughter of former Texas governor Ann Richards, became president of the organization.[6] Stand on political and legal issuesPlanned Parenthood and its predecessor organizations have provided and advocated for access to birth control since the founding of the National Birth Control League in 1916. The modern organization of Planned Parenthood America is also a strong advocate of legalized abortion. This advocacy includes contributing to sponsorship of abortion rights and women's rights events[7] and assisting in the testing of new contraceptives.[8] The group opposes restrictions on abortion, including:
Planned Parenthood argues for the wide availability of emergency contraception (EC) measures,[9] and opposes refusal clauses (also called conscience clauses) which would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense contraceptives if doing so would conflict with their personal beliefs.[10] Planned Parenthood has also been critical of hospitals which they claim obstruct access to EC for rape victims.[11] Planned Parenthood supports and provides FDA-approved abortifacients such as Mifepristone. Planned Parenthood also opposes abstinence-only education in public schools. Instead, it favors (and offers) comprehensive sex education, which includes discussion of both abstinence and birth control. Controversy and criticismPlanned Parenthood has been accused in several cases of agreeing not to report cases of statutory rape to the authorities.[12] [13] It has received criticism for withholding court-subpoenaed medical records of clients in these and other cases, but defends its actions on the grounds of medical privacy. Cases in Indiana and Kansas remain unresolved.[14][15][16] In October 2005, Planned Parenthood Minnesota/North Dakota/South Dakota was fined $50,000 for violation of a Minnesota state parental notification law. [17] Life Decisions International, a pro-life group specifically dedicated to attacking Planned Parenthood, criticized PP Golden Gate's "Tell-a-Friend" ad campaign in March 2006. LDI organizers claimed that the program, which promises free movie tickets to clients who refer others to Planned Parenthood, is targeted at young people.[18] Planned Parenthood and the US Supreme CourtPlanned Parenthood regional chapters have been active in the American courts. A number of cases in which Planned Parenthood has been a party have reached the Supreme Court of the United States. Notable among these cases is the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, where Planned Parenthood is the Southeast Pennsylvania Chapter, and Casey is the late Robert Casey, who was a pro-life Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania. The ultimate ruling was a split plurality, in which Roe v. Wade was upheld in an opinion written by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, and David Souter, all of whom were Republican appointees to the High Court, with Justices Harry Blackmun and John Paul Stevens (also Republican appointees) concurring with the main decision in separately written opinions. The High Court also struck down spousal consent requirements for married women to obtain abortions. Dissenting were Justices William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Byron White, all of whom were Republican appointees except for Justice White. Justices Blackmun, Rehnquist, and White were the only justices who voted on the original Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 who were still on the High Court to rule on this case, and their votes on this case were consistent with their votes on the original decision that legalized abortion[19]. Other notable cases
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See also
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