Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood, short for Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., is a nonprofit health-care organization. It provides services such as birth control, pregnancy care, abortions, and cancer screenings for people in the United States and around the world. Planned Parenthood has faced many challenges throughout the years but has continued to fight for reproductive health-care rights.

Beginnings

Planned Parenthood had its start in 1916, when Margaret Sanger opened the first clinic to distribute birth control in the United States. During this time, Comstock Laws prevented women from obtaining contraceptives and deemed information about birth control illegal. Sanger, a nurse, knew the risks of unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions.

After previous attempts to open clinics that ended in jail time, Sanger finally opened the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau in 1923 to distribute contraceptives to women. That same year, she founded the American Birth Control League, an organization that focused on world population growth.

Other birth control proponents joined the fight. In 1936, the US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that physicians could prescribe contraceptives to married women in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. The ruling also loosened the Comstock Laws. More states followed suit. Sanger's two organizations merged to form Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. in 1942.

1960s and 1970s

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first birth control pill for sale in 1960. Around this time, states began to challenge contraceptive laws. Some began to provide family planning services as well as contraceptives.

Abortion laws also came into focus. Planned Parenthood believed that all individuals should have the right to safe and legal abortions. During the 1960s, the drug thalidomide and a rubella outbreak caused birth defects to thousands of fetuses. Public support for safe abortion increased. Many called for changes to anti-abortion laws.

The US government got involved in family planning in the late 1960s, when President Lyndon Johnson earmarked funds for these services. President Richard Nixon expanded these services in the next decade. In 1970, he signed the Title X Family Planning Program of the Public Health Service Act that made contraceptives available to women regardless of income level. It also provided funds for contraception education and research. Congress expanded the act to include sex education programs and preventive services for teenagers.

Also in 1970, Planned Parenthood of Syracuse became the first Planned Parenthood clinic to begin offering abortion services. At the time, abortions through the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy were legal in New York. In 1971, Planned Parenthood began providing international programs and services through its International Planned Parenthood Federation.

On January 22, 1973, the US Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal in the United States. The ruling allowed women the right to choose abortion. Other Planned Parenthood locations began to offer abortion services.

Many anti-abortion activists were not happy and attacked Planned Parenthood. Congress sought to restrict abortion access through legislation. Planned Parenthood continued to fight the restrictions. At the same time, teenage pregnancy rates began to rise across the country. Toward the end of the 1970s, Planned Parenthood focused on providing birth control access and education to teenagers.

1980s

Planned Parenthood faced many challenges in the 1980s. Anti-abortion activists attacked Planned Parenthood clinics throughout the United States. Some of the attacks included the assassination of abortion doctors and the destruction of clinics. These acts were carried out to intimidate Planned Parenthood staff and patients as well as close clinics.

Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. He opposed abortion and attempted to push his conservative social agenda. He attempted to overturn many of the contraception and abortion laws Planned Parenthood was successful in implementing. He was successful in putting limits on sex education and restrictive measures on abortions such as parental consent laws. He also supported efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade.

When this plan failed, anti-abortion groups targeted women using Planned Parenthood services and committed attacks against the clinics themselves. Pro-choice Americans came to the aid of Planned Parenthood. The challenges continued when George H. W. Bush was elected president in 1988. The Supreme Court continued to make rulings to restrict abortion access.

1990s

Things eased for Planned Parenthood with the election of pro-choice president Bill Clinton in 1992. He repealed and overturned many of the laws instituted by his anti-abortion predecessors. He also vetoed federal abortion bans.

However, attacks against Planned Parenthood persisted. Congress responded to the violence by passing legislation to protect patients and clinics. However, Congress introduced state funding for abstinence-only programs, undermining sex education programs spearheaded by Planned Parenthood. The organization helped pass the Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act, which required insurers to cover contraceptives.

2000s and 2010s

With George W. Bush in office in 2000, Planned Parenthood again was forced to fight for funds and to work to prevent the president from overturning contraception and abortion legislation. The organization continued to receive threats and attacks but remained vigilant in serving patients. In 2003, Bush was successful in passing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. He targeted programs that catered to women's health, family planning, HIV/AIDS, and more throughout the first decade of the 2000s. He pushed for funding for abstinence-only programs and limited sexual education.

Barack Obama took office in 2009 and began to work on health-care reform. He ended legislation enacted by Bush that prevented women from obtaining basic health care and implemented programs aimed at preventing teen pregnancy. Planned Parenthood worked on new programs that addressed sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and sex education. In 2009, Congress passed a bill that provided preventive care and screenings to women at no cost.

In 2010, Obama passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which reformed the country's health-care system. Under the new plan, Planned Parenthood saw strides in women's health care. As part of the act, most insurers covered contraceptives without a copay. However, Congress continued to push bills related to women's health-care access.

Planned Parenthood celebrated its one hundredth anniversary in 2016. It also made its first endorsement for a presidential candidate: Democrat Hillary Clinton. When Hillary Clinton lost the election to Republican Donald Trump, the permanence of Planned Parenthood once again seemed in jeopardy. In January 2017, shortly after inauguration, Trump gave Planned Parenthood the ultimatum to stop offering abortions, or risk losing federal funding. The organization refused, pointing out that the funds they receive from the government do not cover abortion services. The Republican majority in Congress, along with the president, strived to defund the organization, and this effort was most influentially realized through the 2019 implementation of a rule banning federally funded organizations from informing patients about or referring patients to abortion providers; under this rule, any health-care organization participating in the Title X funding program would lose its funding if it engaged in such referrals and was required to perform any abortions at a separate facility. Though the order was legally challenged on several fronts, Planned Parenthood opted to exit the Title X program that year, arguing that it did not align with the organization's health-care mission.

2020s

President Joe Biden's administration, inaugurated in January 2021, ultimately lifted the rule later that year. In the meantime, Planned Parenthood had emphasized that legal abortions should be considered an essential, time-sensitive health-care service even as many medical services were delayed or unavailable, and some states such as Texas largely legislatively banned abortions in favor of other medical resources, following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

In late June 2022, the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization resulted in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. As reactions to the ruling, which argued that the Constitution does not refer to abortion and does not provide an inherent right to the procedure, remained divisive, several states moved to implement abortion bans. According to reports, Planned Parenthood and its CEO released several statements guaranteeing continued abortion services in the states maintaining abortion legality, with some of these facilities already experiencing increased rates of appointments and scheduled procedures on behalf of those living in other states in the following weeks. At the same time, the organization started work on an expansion of related services meant to combat restrictions, such as birth control access and mental health counseling, in all states.

By the mid-2020s, Planned Parenthood continued to be engaged in fighting cuts to Medicaid and, specifically, efforts in some states to prevent the organization from inclusion in the Medicaid program altogether.

Bibliography

"About Us." Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

Belluck, Pam. "Trump Administration Blocks Funds for Planned Parenthood and Others over Abortion Referrals." The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/health/trump-defunds-planned-parenthood.html. Accessed 6 July 2022.

Chozick, Amy. "Planned Parenthood, in Its First Primary Endorsement, Backs Hillary Clinton." The New York Times, 7 Jan. 2016, www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/07/planned-parenthood-in-its-first-primary-endorsement-backs-hillary-clinton/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

Lussenhop, Jessica. "What Is Planned Parenthood?" BBC, 25 Sept. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34363358. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

Mangan, Dan. "Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Ending 50 Years of Federal Abortion Rights." CNBC, 24 June 2022, www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-overturned-by-supreme-court-ending-federal-abortion-rights.html. Accessed 6 July 2022.

Rebouché, Rachel. "Blocking Planned Parenthood from Medicaid Will Only Worsen the US Maternal Health Crisis." The Nation, 17 Jan. 2025, www.thenation.com/article/society/defund-planned-parenthood-scotus-trump/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

Smith, Morgan. "How the CEO of Planned Parenthood Is Preparing for a Future without Roe v. Wade: 'We've Been Planning for This Moment for Years.'" CNBC, 9 June 2022, www.cnbc.com/2022/06/09/planned-parenthood-ceo-alexis-mcgill-johnson-on-the-future-of-abortion.html. Accessed 6 July 2022.