Go to Content Go to Navigation Go to Navigation Go to Site Search Homepage

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California Kicks Off “Capitol Week” with Release of Open Letter to Californians

April 18, 2022
Brandon Richards, Director of Communications
[email protected]

PPAC President & CEO Jodi Hicks Shares Abortion Story for First Time; New Say Abortion Website Launched

SACRAMENTO—Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) kicks off the organization’s 2022 Capitol Week programming via a livestream event featuring President and CEO Jodi Hicks providing a “State of the Organization” update including: impact other states’ restrictions are having on California health centers, the California way forward to protect and expand access to abortion, and how Planned Parenthood supporters can get involved right now in the crucial fight for sexual and reproductive rights, including abortion.

The “Capitol Week” launch event also features a new video highlighting PPAC’s “Say Abortion” campaign to promote Planned Parenthood storytellers and help fight stigma around abortion, as well as patient storytellers sharing their Planned Parenthood story. Following the kickoff event, Planned Parenthood leaders, supporters, and volunteers from across the state will meet virtually throughout the week with legislative members to discuss Planned Parenthood’s legislative and budget priorities.

“We are in a nationwide abortion access crisis getting worse with each passing day,” said Jodi Hicks, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. “Californians and California leaders must continue to step up and provide much needed leadership as more and more people are forced to look outside their home state for abortion, and other essential health care. It is imperative as many people as possible use their voice to speak up and speak out in support of abortion rights as access is being stripped away at a rapid pace in other states ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that is likely to overturn Roe v Wade this summer.”

 

THE “STATE OF THE ORGANIZATION” AN OPEN LETTER TO CALIFORNIANS

 

Planned Parenthood is asking Californians to continue taking action through its ongoing “Say Abortion” campaign, in which Californians are encouraged to share their story, use the word abortion to help fight current stigma, sign up to be a Planned Parenthood volunteer, register to vote, and donate through a new website: www.SayAbortionCalifornia.com. Featured on PPAC’s social media and new website are patient storytellers, including current lawmakers, talking about what access to abortion meant to them.

“California must continue to be a Reproductive Freedom state, and the only way to do that is to continue to protect and expand access to abortion services and sexual and reproductive health care more broadly,” continued Hicks. “The best way people can be a part of this fight is to speak out and stand up in support of abortion, whether in small conversations with friends or family, signing up to volunteer, or making donations to reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations in and out of California. This fight to save abortion access is going to take all of us.”

Sharing abortion stories has been a successful tactic used by reproductive justice leaders, particularly Black women, for decades. PPAC’s “Say Abortion” campaign is intended to uplift and create additional platforms for storytellers. That is why, for the first time publicly, PPAC President and CEO Jodi Hicks is sharing her abortion story in an effort to continue to live PPAC’s values and provide the leadership called for in this moment in history.

“This moment calls for everyone to speak up, and if I am asking others to share their story, I must share mine,” Hicks said. “I hope by speaking up, others, particularly in my generation, will push thru the stigma and break their silence to share their story or proudly talk about their support for abortion.”

 

READ JODI HICKS ABORTION STORY

 

A significant portion of the legislative package supported by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California made progress this month in the California legislature, with more progress likely to come this week. Learn more about PPAC’s legislative priorities here and stay up to date on the progress being made on the California Future of Abortion Council’s recommendations here.

 

###

 

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) is the state public policy office representing California’s seven separately incorporated Planned Parenthood affiliates. Through advocacy and electoral action, PPAC promotes sound public policy in areas of sexual and reproductive health care and sex education.

 

This page is controlled and operated by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.

Planned Parenthood cares about your data privacy. We and our third-party vendors use cookies and other tools to collect, store, monitor, and analyze information about your interaction with our site to improve performance, analyze your use of our sites and assist in our marketing efforts. You may opt out of the use of these cookies and other tools at any time by visiting Cookie Settings. By clicking “Allow All Cookies” you consent to our collection and use of such data, and our Terms of Use. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.

Cookie Settings

Planned Parenthood cares about your data privacy. We and our third-party vendors, use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies to collect, store, monitor, and process certain information about you when you access and use our services, read our emails, or otherwise engage with us. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device. We use that information to make the site work, analyze performance and traffic on our website, to provide a more personalized web experience, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also share information with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can change your default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our Necessary Cookies as they are deployed to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Marketing

On

We use online advertising to promote our mission and help constituents find our services. Marketing pixels help us measure the success of our campaigns.

Performance

On

We use qualitative data, including session replay, to learn about your user experience and improve our products and services.

Analytics

On

We use web analytics to help us understand user engagement with our website, trends, and overall reach of our products.