For more than 90 years, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) has worked to provide quality health care to women, prevent unplanned pregnancies, educate young women and men about human sexuality and advocate for the right of women to make informed and responsible choices. The nonprofit family planning agency respects the right of individuals to make their own choices in regard to sexuality and birth control. Today, as a result of the relentless work of early advocates, birth control is viewed by many as a component of basic health care.
History
Planned Parenthood dates back to the early 1900's when Margaret Sanger, the organization's founder, opened a clinic on New York City's Lower East Side, the purpose of which was to advise poor, immigrant women about contraception. As a nurse, Sanger was influential in the American Medical Association recognizing birth control as an essential part of medicine and preventive health care. In the 1930s, Sanger's work also drew the attention of individual state governments that began to accept birth control as a legitimate public health issue. By the 1960s, Planned Parenthood had become a principal supporter of the Women's Rights Movement.
Considerations
Some of the services provided by Planned Parenthood include family planning and birth control, information about methods of contraception, pregnancy prevention and testing, gynecological care and cancer screening. In addition, the organization advocates for comprehensive sex education in schools, strives to raise awareness about HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and rallies public support for safe and legal abortion. From its earliest days to the present, the goal of Planned Parenthood continues to be making family planning accessible to all women regardless of socioeconomic status.
Prevention/Solution
Planned Parenthood sponsors educational programs, which are presented at schools, churches and community organizations. These programs address topics related to women's health issues, pregnancy and birth control, decision-making skills and positive parenting skills. The organization works closely with local, state and federal policymakers, developing a vast network of grassroots supporters committed to advocating for public access to a broad program of sex education and family planning services. With one in three young women in the U.S. becoming pregnant before age 20, comprehensive sex education can help to prevent unintended pregnancies.
Warning
in the U.S. approximately 1 million teenagers become pregnant. In addition, one in every four young women suffers a sexually transmitted infection, as young teens today are overwhelmed with conflicting messages about sex. Compounding the problem is the cost of birth control available from community health centers and college campuses rising significantly in cost. Prescriptions that were $5 to $10 per month just a few years ago now cost as much as $50, which is unaffordable to many low-income women and college students.
Misconceptions
Planned Parenthood operates on the principle that teens must be provided accurate information before they can make responsible decisions. Yet despite what many people might believe, young men and women often do not know the facts about sex. And what they don't know can get them into serious trouble. A major misconception among those opposing the mission of Planned Parenthood is that abstinence-only programs work. The problem is that 85 percent of sexually active women who do not use birth control eventually become pregnant. Also, government funding often is appropriated only for these kinds of sex education programs in the schools. To make matters worse, numerous myths about prevent pregnancy continue to circulate among the teenage population in general.
Significance
The mission of Planned Parenthood is based on the belief that health care is a basic human right. Because advocates for Planned Parenthood strive for universal recognition that it is the right of every woman to choose, the organization constantly campaigns against unsafe abortion, a major public health issue among women worldwide. Poor women are often the victims, as they attempt to deal with unwanted pregnancy. In developing nations, complications that are the result of unsafe abortions seriously affect the health and continue to claim the lives of thousands of women each year.
Effects
With hundreds of thousands of women around the world dying each year from problems related to pregnancy and childbirth, access to voluntary family planning services can only have positive effects. The goal of providing contraceptives for couples is not only to prevent unplanned pregnancies, of which there are more than 80 million globally each year, but also to reduce the number of maternal and child mortality rates. Responsible family planning also helps to prevent abortions by preventing unplanned pregnancies from occurring.
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