The Difference Each Planned Parenthood Supporter Makes

Sorted under reproductive rights on December 18, 2008

Planned Parenthood

Three million women, men and teens walked through Planned Parenthood’s doors this past year to receive medical services and birth control. It is obvious that Planned Parenthood helps millions of people each and every single year, but it is also very well known that Planned Parenthood cannot help so many people every year without the help of us–Planned Parenthood supporters. People who will speak out about the good that Planned Parenthood does and the services they provide to women, men and teens who otherwise would not be able to receive the health care they need.

Supporters of Planned Parenthood achieved quite a bit this past year and I know I feel truly accomplished due to my activism, as should every single person who has stood up and spoken out on Planned Parenthood’s behalf.

We have fought for women’s health care on national, state and local levels. We have secured more money for family planning; securing the most lucrative funding increase for the Title X program since George Bush took office eight years ago. College students campaigned at more than 220 college campuses in 40 states through the Planned Parenthood Affordable Birth Control Campaign. We have helped convince 11 new states to decline teaching our youth out-dated abstinence-only education, making the total 26 states in all. We helped defeat 33 of the 34 abortion ban bills that turned up in state legislatures across the country. We helped to develop a blueprint for a proactive women’s health agenda that can be used by the Obama Administration ensuring access to affordable, quality reproductive health care across the world.

We fought to provide health care. Five million people worldwide were helped to make responsible choices about sexual and reproductive health. We have helped prevent an estimated 621,000 unintended pregnancies just in the United States. We have helped women feel more comfortable about buying and carrying condoms with the launch of the new PROPER ATTIRE condom line.

We fought to provide real sexual health education worldwide. Planned Parenthood educated people on all aspects of sexual health, from protecting themselves from sexually transmitted infections and diseases to creating healthy, loving relationships. Planned Parenthood educators trained and educated more than 1.2 million teens, parents and professionals about healthy sexuality and the Real Life. Real Talk. program reached out to parents through 150 local community partners, giving them the tools they need to speak with their children about sexuality and health. We all responded to the crisis of at least 1 in 4 teenage girls having a sexually transmitted infection or disease by building a groundbreaking coalition that in 2009, will launch an aggressive national public awareness, testing and treatment campaign. We helped Planned Parenthood work with global partners to provide more than $2.5 million in grants to 49 organizations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

What we most definitely had a monumental impact in doing, along with the above, is help to grow Planned Parenthood’s online presence to 15 million visitors and also laid the groundwork for the re-launch of the flagship website, plannedparenthood.org, that will include online appointment requests, automated phone and email appointment reminders, and “ask an expert” chats with health educators.

We have surely had a tremendous impact this year and I hope that every Planned Parenthood supporter out there is as proud of their determination and activism as I am.



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