PPFA has its roots inBrooklyn, New York, whereMargaret Sanger opened the firstbirth control clinic in the United States, in 1916. Sanger founded theAmerican Birth Control League in 1921,[5] and 14 years after her exit as its president, ABCL's successor organization became Planned Parenthood in 1942.
Planned Parenthood consists of 159 medical and non-medical affiliates, which operate over 600 health clinics in the United States.[3][4] It partners with organizations in 12 countries globally.[3][4] The organization directly provides a variety of reproductive health services and sexual education, contributes to research in reproductive technology and advocates for the protection and expansion ofreproductive rights.[4] Research shows that closures of Planned Parenthood clinics lead to increases in maternal mortality rates.[6][7]
PPFA is the largest single provider of reproductive health services and the largest single provider ofabortions in the United States.[11][12] In its 2023 Annual Report, PPFA reported seeing over two million patients and performing a total of 9.13 million discrete services including 392,715 abortions.[13] Its combined annual revenue isUS$1.3billion, including approximately$530million in government funding such asMedicaid reimbursements.[4][14] Throughout its history, PPFA and its member clinics have been the subject of support, criticism, controversy, protests,[15] and violent attacks.[16]
Margaret Sanger (1922), the first president and founder of Planned Parenthood
The origins of Planned Parenthood date to October 16, 1916, whenMargaret Sanger, her sisterEthel Byrne, andFania Mindell opened thefirst birth control clinic in the U.S. in theBrownsville section of theNew York borough ofBrooklyn.[17] They distributed birth control, birth control advice, and birth control information. All three women were arrested[18][19][20] and jailed for violating provisions of theComstock Act,[21] accused of distributing obscene materials at the clinic. The so-called Brownsville trials brought national attention and support to their cause. Sanger and her co-defendants were convicted onmisdemeanor charges, which they appealed through two subsequent appeals courts. While the convictions were not overturned,[22] the judge who issued the final ruling also modified the law to permit physician-prescribed birth control. The women's campaign led to major changes in the laws governing birth control and sex education in the United States.[23]
In 1921, the clinic was organized into theAmerican Birth Control League,[5] the core of the only national birth-control organization in the U.S. until the 1960s. By 1941, it was operating 222 centers and had served 49,000 clients.[24] In 1923, Sanger opened the Birth ControlClinical Research Bureau (BCCRB) for dispensing contraceptives under the supervision of licensed physicians and studying their effectiveness.[25]
Some found the ABCL's title offensive and "against families", so the League began discussions for a new name.[26] In 1938, a group of private citizens organized the Citizens Committee for Planned Parenthood to aid the American Birth Control League in spreading scientific knowledge about birth control to the general public. The BCCRB merged with the ABCL in 1939 to form the Birth Control Federation of America (BCFA). In 1942 the name of the BCFA was changed to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.[25]
1940s–1960s
Under the leadership of National Director D. Kenneth Rose, the PPFA expanded its programs and services through the 1940s, adding affiliate organizations throughout the country. By the end of World War II, the Federation was no longer solely a center for birth control services or a clearing house for contraceptive information but had emerged as a major national health organization. PPFA's programs included a full range of family planning services including marriage education and counseling, and infertility services. The leadership of the PPFA, largely consisting of businessmen and male physicians, endeavored to incorporate its contraceptive services unofficially into regional and national public health programs by emphasizing less politicized aspects such as child spacing.[25]
During the 1950s, the Federation further adjusted its programs and message to appeal to a family-centered, more conservative post-war populace, while continuing to function, through its affiliated clinics, as the more reliable source of contraceptives in the country.[25]
From 1942 to 1962, PPFA concentrated its efforts on strengthening its ties to affiliates, expanding public education programs, and improving its medical and research work. By 1960, visitors to PPFA centers across the nation numbered over 300,000 per year.[25]
Largely relying on a volunteer workforce, by 1960 the Federation had provided family planning counseling in hundreds of communities across the country.[24] Planned Parenthood was one of the founding members of theInternational Planned Parenthood Federation when it was launched at a conference inBombay (now Mumbai),India, in 1952.[24][27]
In 1961, the population crisis debate, along with funding shortages, convinced PPFA to merge with the World Population Emergency Campaign, a citizens' fund-raising organization to become PPFA-World Population.[25]
Both Planned Parenthood and Margaret Sanger are strongly associated with the abortion issue today.[28][29] For much of the organization's history, however, and throughout Sanger's life,abortion was illegal in the U.S., and discussions of the issue were often censored.[30] During this period, Sanger – like other American advocates of birth control – publicly condemned abortion, arguing that it would not be needed if every woman had access to birth control.[30]
1960s–present
A Planned Parenthood supporter participates in a demonstration in support of the organization
Following Margaret Sanger,Alan Frank Guttmacher became president of Planned Parenthood, serving from 1962 until 1974.[31] During his tenure, theFood and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the sale of the originalbirth control pill, giving rise to new attitudes towards women'sreproductive freedom.[24] Also during his presidency, Planned Parenthood lobbied the federal government to support reproductive health, culminating with PresidentRichard Nixon's signing ofTitle X to provide government subsidies for low-income women to access family planning services.[32] The Center for Family Planning Program Development was also founded as a semi-autonomous division during this time.[33] The center became an independent organization and was renamed theGuttmacher Institute in 1977.[33]
Planned Parenthood began to advocate abortion law reform beginning in 1955, when the organization's medical director,Mary Calderone, convened a national conference of medical professionals on the issue. The conference was the first instance of physicians and other professionals advocating reform of the laws which criminalized abortion, and it played a key role in creating a movement for the reform of abortion laws in the U.S.[30] Focusing, at first, on legalizingtherapeutic abortion, Planned Parenthood became an increasingly vocal proponent of liberalized abortion laws during the 1960s, culminating in its call for the repeal of all anti-abortion laws in 1969.[34] In the years that followed, the organization played a key role in landmark abortion rights cases such asRoe v Wade (1973) andPlanned Parenthood v Casey (1992).[29] Once abortion was legalized during the early 1970s, Planned Parenthood also began acting as an abortion provider.
Faye Wattleton became the firstAfrican American president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1978. Wattleton, who was also the youngest president in Planned Parenthood's history, served in this role until 1992.[35][36] During her term, Planned Parenthood grew to become the seventh largest charity in the country, providing services to four million clients each year through its 170 affiliates, whose activities were spread across 50 states.[37]
From 1996 to 2006, Planned Parenthood was led byGloria Feldt.[38][39] Feldt activated the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF), the organization'spolitical action committee, launching what was the most far-reaching electoral advocacy effort in its history.[40] The PPAF serves as the nonpartisan political advocacy arm of PPFA.[41] It engages in educational and electoral activity, including legislative advocacy, voter education, andgrassroots organizing to promote the PPFA mission. Feldt also launched the Responsible Choices Action Agenda, a nationwide campaign to increase services to preventunwanted pregnancies, improve the quality of reproductive care, and ensure access to safe and legal abortions.[24] Another initiative was the commencement of a "Global Partnership Program", to build a vibrant activist constituency in support of family planning.[24]
Richards' tenure as president of the organization ended on April 30, 2018. Current Planned Parenthood board memberJoe Solmonese was appointed as transition chair to temporarily oversee the day-to-day operations of Planned Parenthood after Richards' departure.[44]
On September 12, 2018, the organization announced thatLeana Wen would take over as president, effective November 2018.[45] Wen was removed as president of Planned Parenthood by the organization's board of directors on July 16, 2019.Alexis McGill Johnson, a board member and former chairwoman, became the organization's acting president.[46]
Unionization campaign
Since 2017, frontline Planned Parenthood staff have been publicly engaged in unionization campaigns at many Planned Parenthood locations. Workers have criticized the organization for its low salaries, poor working conditions and a disconnect between leadership and rank and file workers. Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains challenged the results of its union election at theNational Labor Relations Board and hiredFisher Phillips lawfirm to run an anti-union campaign, before eventually agreeing to a contract in 2018. Planned Parenthood North Central States disciplined its union's entire bargaining team[47] and fired a union organizer after she accused a coworker of assault. The regional affiliate agreed to a contract in 2023 after 37 bargaining sessions over the course of 16 months.[48]
Data breaches
In October 2021, ahacker gained access to the data network of the Los Angeles branch of Planned Parenthood and obtained the personal information of approximately 400,000 patients. On December 1, 2021,The Washington Post reported that the breach was aransomware attack. The organization did not say if they paid the ransom or if the perpetrators made any demands. There was no indication as to who was responsible for the hack. The Metropolitan Washington branch of Planned Parenthood was also hacked in 2020 with donor and patient information compromised, including dates of birth,social security numbers, financial information, and medical data.[49]
In 2013, PPFA reported seeing 2.7million patients in 4.6million clinical visits.[64] Roughly 16 percent of its clients are teenagers.[3][65] According to PPFA, in 2014 the organization provided 3.6million contraceptive services, 4.5million sexually transmitted infection services, about onemillion cancer related services, over onemillion pregnancy tests and prenatal services, over 324,000 abortion services,[66] and over 100,000 other services, for a total of 9.5million discrete services.[64] PPFA is well known for providing services tominorities and to poor people;[67][68] according to PPFA, approximately four out of five of their clients have incomes at or below 150percent of thefederal poverty level.[59][69] Services formen's health include STI testing and treatment, vasectomy procedures, anderectile dysfunction services.[70] Education is available regarding male birth control and lowering the risk of sexually transmitted infections.[71]
Planned Parenthood won the 2020 Webby Award for Machine Learning and Bots for their Sex Education chatbot.[72]
PPFA has two national offices in the United States: one inWashington, D.C., and one inNew York City. It has three international offices, including a hub office inLondon, England. It has 68 medical and related affiliates and 101 other affiliates including 34 political action committees.[4] These affiliates together operate more than 700 health centers in all 50 states in the U.S. plus theDistrict of Columbia.[3][73][74] PPFA owns about$54million in property, including real estate. In addition, PPFA spends a little over$1million per year for rented space.[4] The largest facility, a$26million, 78,000-square-foot (7,200-square-meter) structure, was completed inHouston,Texas, in May 2010.[75]
Planned Parenthood has received federal funding since 1970, when PresidentRichard Nixon signed into law theFamily Planning Services and Population Research Act, amending thePublic Health Service Act.Title X of that law provides funding for family planning services, including contraception and family planning information. The law had support from bothRepublicans andDemocrats.[82] Nixon described Title X funding as based on the premise that "no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition."[83]
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, total revenue was$1.3billion: non-government health services revenue was$305million, government revenue (such as Medicaid reimbursements) was$528million, private contributions totaled$392million, and$78million came from other operating revenue.[90] According to Planned Parenthood, 59 percent of the group's revenue is put towards the provision of health services, while non-medical services such as sex education and public policy work make up another 15 percent; management expenses, fundraising, and international family planning programs account for about 16 percent, and 10 percent of the revenue in 2013–2014 was not spent.[90]
Planned Parenthood receives over a third of its money in government grants and contracts (about$528million in 2014).[91][90] By law (Hyde Amendment), federal funding cannot be allocated for abortions (except in rare cases),[92] but some opponents of abortion have argued that allocating money to Planned Parenthood for the provision of other medical services allows other funds to be reallocated for abortions.[68]
A coalition of national and local anti-abortion groups have lobbied federal and state governments to stop funding Planned Parenthood. As a result, federal and state legislators have proposed legislation to reduce funding levels.[92][93] Eight states—Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Utah—have enacted such proposals.[102] In some cases, the courts have overturned such actions, citing conflict with federal or state laws; in others the federal executive branch has provided funding in lieu of the states.[96][97][103] In some states, Planned Parenthood was completely or partially defunded.[104][105]
In August 2015, Louisiana GovernorBobby Jindal attempted to end Louisiana's contract with Planned Parenthood to treatMedicaid patients at a time when there was an epidemic of sexually transmitted infections in Louisiana.[69] Planned Parenthood and three patients sued the state of Louisiana, with theUnited States Department of Justice siding with Planned Parenthood.[106]
On February 2, 2016, the U.S. House failed to override President Obama's veto ofH.R. 3762 (Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015) which would have prohibited Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal Medicaid funds for one year.[107]
Late in 2016, the Obama administration issued a rule effective in January 2017 banning U.S. states from withholding federal family-planning funds from health clinics that give abortions, including Planned Parenthood affiliates; this rule mandates that local and state governments give federal funds for services related to sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy care, fertility, contraception, and breast and cervical cancer screening to qualified health providers whether or not they give abortions.[108] However, this rule was blocked by a federal judge the day before it would have taken effect.[109] In 2017, it was overturned by new legislation.[110]
The proposedAmerican Health Care Act (H.R. 1628), announced by Congressional Republicans in March 2017, would have made Planned Parenthood "ineligible for Medicaid reimbursements or federal family planning grants."[111]
On August 19, 2019, Planned Parenthood voluntarily withdrew from Title X funding due to a regulatory gag order stating that medical institutions that receive Title X funding cannot refer patients for abortions.[112]
Political advocacy
Planned Parenthood activists meeting with then-SenatorKamala Harris in 2017
Planned Parenthood is an advocate for the legal and political protection ofreproductive rights.[113] This advocacy includes helping to sponsor abortion rights andwomen's rights events.[114] The Federation opposes restrictions on women's reproductive health services, including parental consent laws for minors.[115][116] To justify this position, Planned Parenthood has cited the case ofBecky Bell, who died following anillegal abortion rather than seek parental consent for a legal one.[117][118] Planned Parenthood also takes the position that laws requiring parental notification before anabortion can be performed on a minor are unconstitutional on privacy grounds.[119]
The organization opposes laws requiringultrasounds before abortions, stating that their only purpose is to make abortions more difficult to obtain.[120] Planned Parenthood has also opposed initiatives that require waiting periods before abortions,[121] and bans on late-term abortions includingintact dilation and extraction, which has been illegal in the U.S. since 2003.[122] Planned Parenthood supports the wide availability ofemergency contraception such as the PlanB pill.[123] It opposesconscience clauses, which allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense drugs against their beliefs.[124] Planned Parenthood has been critical of hospitals that do not provide access to emergency contraception forrape victims.[125] Citing the need for medically accurate information insex education, Planned Parenthood opposesabstinence-only education in public schools. Instead, Planned Parenthood is a provider of, and endorses,comprehensive sex education, which includes a discussion of both abstinence and birth control.[126]
Planned Parenthood's advocacy activities are executed by thePlanned Parenthood Action Fund, which is registered as a501(c)(4) charity, and files financial information jointly with PPFA.[4] The committee was founded in 1996, by then-president Gloria Feldt, to maintain supportive health rights and supporting political candidates of the same mindset. In the 2012 election cycle, the committee gained prominence based on its effectiveness in spending on candidates.[127] Although the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) shares some leadership with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the president of PPAF,Cecile Richards,[128][129] testified before Congress in September 2015 that she did not manage the organization.[130] The Planned Parenthood Action Fund has 58 active, separately incorporated chapters in 41 states[131] and maintains national headquarters in New York and Washington, D.C.[132] Planned Parenthood has received grants from the Obama administration to help promote thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare.[133]
Political spending
Planned Parenthood spends money on politics and elections through the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (its federalpolitical action committee), through its Super PAC, and through a variety of related 501(c)(4) entities.[134] Planned Parenthood endorsed Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.[135][136] In the 2014 election cycle, Planned Parenthood spent$6,587,100 on contributions to candidates and political parties (overwhelmingly to Democrats) and on independent expenditures.[134][137]
Before the U.S. Supreme Court
Former Planned Parenthood PresidentGloria Feldt with CongressmanAlbert Wynn in front of the U.S. Supreme Court
Planned Parenthood regional chapters have been active in the American courts. Several cases in which Planned Parenthood has been a party have reached theU.S. Supreme Court. Notable among these cases is the 1992 casePlanned Parenthood v. Casey, the case that sets forth the current constitutional abortion standard. In this case, "Planned Parenthood" was the Southeast Pennsylvania Chapter, and "Casey" wasRobert Casey, the governor ofPennsylvania. The ultimate ruling was split, andRoe v. Wade was narrowed but upheld in an opinion written bySandra Day O'Connor,Anthony Kennedy, andDavid Souter.Harry Blackmun andJohn Paul Stevens concurred with the main decision in separately written opinions. The Supreme Court struck down spousal consent requirements for married women to obtain abortions, but found no "undue burden"—an alternative tostrict scrutiny, which tests the allowable limitations on rights protected under the Constitution—from the other statutory requirements. Dissenting wereWilliam Rehnquist,Antonin Scalia,Clarence Thomas, andByron White. Blackmun, Rehnquist, and White were the only justices who voted on the originalRoe v. Wade decision in 1973 who were still on the Supreme Court to rule on this case, and their votes on this case were consistent with their votes on the original decision that legalized abortion.[138] Only Blackmun voted to maintainRoe v. Wade in its entirety.[139]
Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth (1976). Planned Parenthood challenged the constitutionality of a Missouri law encompassing parental consent, spousal consent, clinic bookkeeping, and allowed abortion methods. Portions of the challenged law were held to be constitutional, others not.[141] The decision was superseded byDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022).[140]
Planned Parenthood Association of Kansas City v. Ashcroft (1983). Planned Parenthood challenged the constitutionality of a Missouri law encompassing parental consent, clinic record keeping, and hospitalization requirements. Most of the challenged law was held to be constitutional.[142] The decision was superseded byDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022).[140]
Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood (2003). Planned Parenthood suedU.S. Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales for an injunction against the enforcement of thePartial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. Planned Parenthood argued the act was unconstitutional because it violated theFifth Amendment, namely in that it was overly vague, violated women's constitutional right to have access to abortion, and did not include language for exceptions for the health of the mother. Both the district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed,[145][146] but that decision was overturned in a 5–4 ruling by the Supreme Court.[147]
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (2006). Planned Parenthoodet al. challenged the constitutionality of aNew Hampshire parental notification law related to access to abortion.[148] InSandra Day O'Connor's final decision before retirement, the Supreme Court sent the case back to lower courts with instructions to seek a remedy short of wholesale invalidation of the statute. New Hampshire ended up repealing the statute via the legislative process.[149] The decision was superseded byDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022).[140]
Other court cases
Somestate attorneys general havesubpoenaed medical records of patients treated by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has gone to court to keep from turning over these records, citingmedical privacy and concerns about the motivation for seeking the records.[150]
In 2006,Kansas Attorney GeneralPhill Kline, a Republican, released some sealed patient records obtained from Planned Parenthood to the public. His actions were described as "troubling" by the state Supreme Court, but Planned Parenthood was compelled to turn over the medical records, albeit with more stringent court-mandated privacy safeguards for the patients involved.[150] In 2007 Kline's successor,Paul J. Morrison, a Democrat, notified the clinic that no criminal charges would be filed after a three-year investigation, as "an objective, unbiased and thorough examination" showed no wrongdoing. Morrison stated that he believed Kline had politicized the Attorney General's office.[151] In 2012, a Kansas district attorney found that the practices of theKansas City-area Planned Parenthood clinic was "within accepted practices in the medical community" and dropped all of the remaining criminal charges. In all, the Planned Parenthood clinic had faced 107 criminal charges from Kline and other Kansas prosecutors, all of which were ultimately dismissed.[152]
In 2006, theIndiana Court of Appeals ruled that Planned Parenthood was not required to turn over its medical records in an investigation of possible child abuse.[153] In 2005, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota was fined$50,000 for violating a Minnesota stateparental consent law.[154]
In 2012, aTexas state court judge, Gary Harger, denied Planned Parenthood's request for a temporary restraining order against theState of Texas, concluding that the State may exclude otherwise qualified doctors and clinics from receiving state funding if the doctors or clinics advocate for abortion rights.[155]
In 2022, Nicole Moore, a Black woman who was the director of Planned Parenthood's multicultural brand engagement from January 2020 to November 2021, filed a lawsuit alleging that she faced months of racial discrimination while working at Planned Parenthood.[156]
Impact
A 2016 study found that the exclusion of Planned Parenthood-affiliated clinics from Texas's Medicaid fee-for-service family-planning program was linked to reductions in the provision of contraception and an increase in child-bearing for women who used injectable contraceptives and who were covered by Medicaid.[157]
A 2020 study found that closure of Planned Parenthood clinics resulted in increases in the maternal mortality rate: "Planned Parenthood clinic closures negatively impacted all women, increasing mortality by 6–15% across racial/ethnic groups."[6][7]
In the 1920s, various theories ofeugenics were popular among intellectuals in the U.S.[158] In her campaign to promote birth control, Sanger teamed with eugenics organizations such as theAmerican Eugenics Society, although she argued against many of their positions.[159][160] Scholars describe Sanger as believing that birth control and sterilization should be voluntary, and not based on race.[161] Sanger advocated for "voluntary motherhood"—the right to choose when to be pregnant—for all women, as an important element ofwomen's rights.[162][163] As part of her efforts to promote birth control, however, Sanger found common cause with proponents of eugenics, believing that she and they both sought to "assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit".[164]
Critics of Planned Parenthood often refer to Sanger's connection with supporters of eugenics to discredit the organization by associating it, and birth control, with the more negative modern view of eugenics.[165][166] Reacting to criticisms of Sanger's endorsement of eugenics, in 2020 Planned Parenthood took steps to distance itself from their founder by removing some mentions of Sanger from their website and renaming the Planned Parenthood building onBleecker Street (which previously was named after Sanger).[167][168][note 2] EssayistKatha Pollitt and Sanger biographer Ellen Chesner criticized Planned Parenthood for succumbing to pressure from the anti-abortion movement.[169][170]
Abortion
Planned Parenthood has occupied a central position in theabortion debate in the U.S. and has been among the most prominent targets of theU.S. anti-abortion movement for decades. Some members of Congress, overwhelminglyRepublican, have attempted since the 1980s to end federal funding of the organization,[91] nearly leading to a government shutdown over the issue in 2011.[171] Planned Parenthood has consistently maintained that federal money received by Planned Parenthood is not used to fund abortion services, but anti-abortion activists have argued that the federal funding frees up other resources that are, in turn, used to provide abortions.[91]
Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortions in the U.S.,[12] butpro-choice advocates have argued that the organization's family planning services reduce the need for abortions; in the words of Megan Crepeau of theChicago Tribune, Planned Parenthood could be "characterized as America's largest abortion preventer".[172][173] Anti-abortion activists dispute the evidence that greater access to contraceptives reduces abortion frequency.[174]
Undercover videos by anti-abortion activists
Periodically, anti-abortion advocates have tried to demonstrate that Planned Parenthood does not follow applicable state or federal laws. The groups called or visited Planned Parenthood health centers posing as victims ofstatutory rape,[175] minors who by law need parental notification before an abortion,[176] racist donors seeking to earmark donations to reduce the African American population,[67][177] or pimps seeking abortions for underage prostitutes.[178] As a result of some of these videos, several Planned Parenthood workers have been disciplined or fired.[177][178] An article inSalon stated that a 2005 inspection by theBush administration'sDepartment of Health and Human Services "yielded no evidence of clinics around the nation failing to comply with laws on reporting child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape or incest".[176]
Live Action videos
Beginning in 2010,Live Action released several series of undercover videos filmed in Planned Parenthood centers. Live Action said one series showed Planned Parenthood employees at many affiliates actively assisting or being complicit in aiding a prostitution ring,[179] advising patients on how to procure sex-selective abortions,[180] while one who said they would immerse a child born alive after a botched abortion in a chemical solution to make it stop moving and breathing.[181] No criminal convictions resulted,[182] but some Planned Parenthood employees and volunteers were fired for not following procedure, and the organization committed to retraining its staff.[183] Additionally, one center was placed on probation.[184]
In 2015, ananti-abortion organization named theCenter for Medical Progress (CMP) released several videos that had beensecretly recorded. Members of the CMP posed as representatives of abiotechnology company in order to gain access to both meetings with abortion providers and abortion facilities. The videos showed how abortion providers made fetaltissue available to researchers, although no problems were found with the legality of the process. All of the videos were found to be altered, according to analysis byFusion GPS and its co-founderGlenn R. Simpson, a former investigative reporter forThe Wall Street Journal. The CMP disputed this finding, attributing the alterations to the editing out of "bathroom breaks and waiting periods". CMP had represented a longer version of the tapes as being "complete", as well as a shorter, edited version. The analysis by Fusion GPS concluded that the longer version was also edited, with skips and missing footage.[186][187] Nonetheless, the videos attracted widespread media coverage; after the release of the first video, conservative lawmakers in Congress singled outPlanned Parenthood and began to push bills that would strip the organization of federalfamily planning funding. No such attempts by Congress to cut federal family planning money from Planned Parenthood have become law. Conservative politicians in several states have also used this as an opportunity to cut or attempt to cut family planning funding at the state level.
In January 2016, a Texas grand jury chartered to investigate Planned Parenthood found no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood but insteadindicted CMP founderDavid Daleiden and member Sandra Merritt for creating and using false government IDs and attempting to purchase fetal tissue. The charges against Daleiden and Merritt in Texas were dismissed six months later on the grounds that the grand jury's indictment authority had extended only to Planned Parenthood. In March 2017, Daleiden and Merritt were charged with 15 felonies in the State of California – one for each of the people whom they hadfilmed without consent, and one forcriminal conspiracy toinvade privacy. In June 2017, all the invasion of privacy charges (but not that of conspiracy) were dismissed withleave toamend, but in July 2017, the State of California re-filed amended charges.
In the U.S., abortion providers have been threatened with death, and facilities that provide abortions have been attacked or vandalized.[188][189] Planned Parenthood clinics have been the target of many instances ofviolence by anti-abortion activists, including but not limited tobombing,arson and attacks withchemical weaponry.[201] In 1994,John Salvi entered aBrookline, Massachusetts Planned Parenthood clinic and opened fire, murdering receptionist Shannon Elizabeth Lowney and wounding three others. He fled to another Planned Parenthood clinic where he murdered Leane Nichols and wounded two others.[202] In 2012, a Grand Chute, Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood clinic was subject to a bombing perpetrated by an unknown individual.[189] In 2015, a Planned Parenthood clinic inPullman, Washington was heavily damaged by arson.[203][204]
On November 27, 2015, a gunman shot and killed two civilians and a police officer during a five-hour gun battle at theColorado Springs, Colorado clinic.[205][206][207] The 57-year-old gunman,[208] Robert Dear, surrendered to police and was taken into custody. During his arrest, he gave a "rambling" interview[209] in which, at one point, he said "no more baby parts", echoing language used in the news media about the clinic following the Center for Medical Progress videos.[210][211][212] Dear was declaredincompetent to stand trial for the shooting, citing experts' finding that he has "delusional disorder, persecutory type" and is now confined indefinitely to a state mental hospital.[213]
^Planned Parenthood dates its beginnings to 1916 when Margaret Sanger opened her first birth control center in Brooklyn. TheAmerican Birth Control League was founded by Sanger in 1921. Its successor organization was formed in 1939 and adopted the name Planned Parenthood in 1942.
^In 2016, Planned Parenthood had published a fact sheet explaining Sanger's positions on a variety of topics:"Opposition Claims About Margaret Sanger"(PDF). Planned Parenthood.Archived(PDF) from the original on March 8, 2017. RetrievedNovember 5, 2015.
^abWayne, T. (2011). Planned parenthood. In M. Z. Stange C. K. Oyster & J. E. Sloan (Eds.), Encyclopedia of women in today's world (Vol. 4, pp. 1107–1108)
^abcReagan, Leslie J. 1997. When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867–1973. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997
^"REMINDER/Planned Parenthood Salutes Visionary Leaders in the Fight for Reproductive Freedom."Business Wire March 29, 2003: 5006.General OneFile. Web. February 11, 2011.
^Richards, Thomas (2007)."Spotlight on: Planned Parenthood".Children's Legal Rights Journal.27 (3): 57.Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. RetrievedFebruary 14, 2011.
^Critchlow, Donald T.; Parker, Charles H. (April 2, 1998).With Us Always: A History of Private Charity and Public Welfare. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 227.ISBN978-1-4616-2221-5.
^Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York,Issues & PositionsArchived March 14, 2017, at theWayback Machine. Access date June 24, 2016. Quote: "While Planned Parenthood supports and promotes communication between parents and their teens, requiring parental notification or consent would reduce the numbers of teens seeking care and put them in danger. We believe it is important for teens to have access to safe health care, even if they can't come to their parents for whatever reason. PPANY opposes government-mandated parental consent and parental notification requirements."
^Including in court, e.g.,Doe v. Planned Parenthood Association of Utah andPlanned Parenthood Ass'n of Utah v. Matheson.
^"The Rachel Maddow Show for April 28, 2010,MSNBC."The Rachel Maddow Show April 29, 2010.General OneFile. Web. February 14, 2011.
^Gordon, Rachel (October 9, 2006). "Campaign 2006; Proposition 85; Parental notification for abortion back on ballot; Voters rejected a similar measure in election last fall.(NEWS)".San Francisco Chronicle. p. A11.
^u.s. Supreme, C. (1983). "Planned Parenthood Association of Kansas City v. Ashcroft".United States Reports: Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court At ... And Rules Announced At ... United States. Supreme Court.462:476–505.PMID12041276.
^* Finn, Robin, "Anti-Abortion Advocates? Bring 'Em On, Texan Says",The New York Times, March 10, 2006. Quote: "PLANNED PARENTHOOD serves five million Americans and concentrates 90 percent of its efforts on preventing unwanted pregnancies, Ms.Richards, says, not terminating them. 'No one does more to reduce the need for abortions in this country than Planned Parenthood.'"[1]Archived May 20, 2013, at theWayback Machine
Also, Emily Stewart, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood said: "Without a doubt, when women have access to birth control, it reduces unintended pregnancies"[2]Archived April 2, 2012, at theWayback Machine
This article incorporates text available under theCC BY 3.0 license.
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Data from Wikidata
