When I went to Planned Parenthood Millennial Lobby Day 2016 in Olympia, Wash., I wasn’t sure what to expect. I am a pro-choice, liberal college student -- I knew that Planned Parenthood supported a woman's right to choose, and that was a good enough reason to lobby. I soon was educated by peers on the hundreds of reasons that I should support the work of the hundreds of Planned Parenthood health clinics. The following are 14 things you might not know about Planned Parenthood, and 14 reasons why #IStandWithPP.
1. Planned Parenthood was founded in 1916 when two sisters founded America’s first birth control clinic.
Margaret Sanger and Ethel Byrne, after learning about diaphragms and other contraceptives that were available in Dutch birth control clinics, opened a clinic in Brooklyn, N.Y., in defiance of U.S. law. Within nine days of the clinic opening Sanger was arrested. Both sisters were arrested several times, and in one case, Byrne was sent to a workhouse for 30 days where she went on a hunger strike and was subsequently force-fed. The publicity from these multiple arrests and trials lead to larger funding and support that lead to the American Birth Control League and eventually Planned Parenthood.
2. Planned Parenthood provides education and outreach to 1.5 million people each year.
The education services provided by Planned Parenthood range with curriculum regarding safe sex, positive body image, sexuality, reproductive health, gender identity and relationships.
3. Planned Parenthood helps to operate 650 health centers throughout the U.S.
2.5 million men and women visit these health centers annually.
4. Planned Parenthood health centers perform nearly 360,000 breast exams each year.
12.3 percent of women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point within their lifetime.
5. Planned Parenthood Health Centers perform 270,000 pap tests each year.
Pap tests, or Papanicolaou tests, are cervical screenings that can be used to identify cervical cancer, and in some cases catch the cancer or unusual cells before it spreads.This year, there will be an estimated 4,120 deaths from cervical cancer.
6. Planned Parenthood Health Centers perform 4.2 million STI tests and treatments each year.
Six hundred and fifty thousand tests are for HIV.
7. Eighty percent of patientsat Planned Parenthood health centers received services to prevent unintended pregnancy.
Sixty-two percent of women of reproductive age use birth control.
8. Planned Parenthood services help prevent 579,000 unintended pregnancies each year.
That's a good thing.
9. Only 3 percent of services at Planned Parenthood health centers are abortion services.
Thirty percent of women will have one abortion by the time they turn 45.
10. It’s estimated one in five women in the U.S. have visited a Planned Parenthood health center.
That's a lot.
11. Planned Parenthood provides online services.
Alaska, Hawaii, California, Idaho, Minnesota and Washington states have online UTI diagnosis and treatment. If you live in one ofthose six previously mentioned states, you can order birth control online. You can even get STI tests delivered in the mail if you live in Minnesota, Washington, California or Idaho.
12. There is a global branch of Planned Parenthood (Planned Parenthood Global).
Planned Parenthood Global has worked to support reproductive rights, access, and education for over 40 years. Planned Parenthood Global works in 17 countries in Latin America and Africa, providing education and contraception and promoting the legal rights of women, and provide medical attention to women who have gone under unsafe abortion procedures.
13. Planned Parenthood endorses more than just presidential candidates.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorses presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial candidates. It also supports and disavows legislation; it supports legislation that supports sex education, immigration reform, emergency contraception, birth control and abortion access.
14. Planned Parenthood has eight million activists, donors and supporters in the U.S.
And I’m one of them.
Do you stand with Planned Parenthood?
