Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund PAC Honors Jennifer Frizzell for 15 Years of Work Protecting & Expanding Reproductive Health Care Access in the Granite State

CONCORD, N.H. -- Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund PAC (PPNHAF PAC) held its biennial Sex, Politics, and Cocktails celebration Thursday evening to honor Granite State leaders committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health and rights. The gathering of over a hundred guests powerfully reaffirmed New Hampshire’s widespread support for Planned Parenthood and safe, legal abortion access during these troubling times for reproductive health.

PPNHAF PAC recognized Jennifer Frizzell, former Vice President of Public Policy for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, for her many years of commitment to health care access for New Hampshire women and families, and her lasting impact on the reproductive health care landscape.

Under Frizzell’s leadership, Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund’s political program and electoral work have grown and helped elect the first all-female, all pro-women’s health federal delegation, the first female Mayor of Manchester, and helped invest in reproductive champions who serve in all state chambers. Votes to defund Planned Parenthood and support abortion restrictions were issues that Planned Parenthood’s electoral and advocacy arm highlighted to help defeat anti-reproductive health candidates Kelly Ayotte and Scott Brown when they ran for United States Senate.   

“We’re proud that the Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund PAC has helped elect so many strong reproductive health champions over the years, and we’re confident that 2018 will be no different. Reproductive health care access is at stake like never before and that’s why we need to elect leaders who stand up for Planned Parenthood and for access to safe, legal abortion up and down the ballot. Support for Planned Parenthood in New Hampshire is stronger than ever before, and we thank Jennifer Frizzell for dedicating many years to strengthening the landscape of reproductive health in New Hampshire,” said Sabrina Dunlap, Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund PAC, Chair.

Frizzell served as Senior Public Affairs Director for PPNNE from 1999 to 2007, and then after two terms as State Senate Policy Director returned to the organization in 2011 as Vice President for Public Policy for PPNNE in New Hampshire. Her legislative accomplishments have played a critical role in protecting and improving birth control access, contributing to New Hampshire’s lowest in the nation rates of unintended pregnancy and pregnancy in teens. Her leadership spans from the passage of the “Contraceptive Equity Law” in 1999 to the passage of SB 421 in July of 2018, a bill which built upon the 1999 law by improving contraceptive access. Through her efforts, the Executive Council restored bipartisan support for Planned Parenthood contracts twice, after efforts to defund the organization.

Outside of the halls of the state house, Frizzell also coordinated litigation and legislative advocacy to secure and protect access to safe, legal abortion and defeat attacks against the organization and its services. These efforts include helping coordinate and win the Ayotte vs. Planned Parenthood case and winning state and federal lawsuits to open a Planned Parenthood health center in downtown Manchester in 2001. Today, the Manchester health center sees nearly 5,000 patients a year and is currently undergoing renovations to modernize the space.

Past honorees of the Sex, Politics, and Cocktails event include Molly Kelly, a 2016 honoree. Kelly received the early endorsement of PPNHAF PAC to be New Hampshire’s next governor. She spent ten years in the state Senate championing reproductive health issues and fighting back against bills that would restrict access to safe, legal abortion in the Granite State. Former honorees also include Dr. Thomas Sherman, Hon. Nancy Stiles,  Hon. Charlene Takesian, Hon. Sylvia Larsen, Hon. Bob O’Dell, Hon. Teri Noreli, and Hon. Candice Bouchard.

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Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund (PPNHAF) is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in New Hampshire. The Action Fund engages in educational and electoral activity, including voter education, grassroots organizing, and legislative advocacy. The Action Fund makes independent expenditures on behalf of or in opposition to targeted candidates for public office. Follow us on Twitter. PPNHAF maintains a separate, segregated political committee and fund to make direct campaign contributions to endorsed candidates (the PAC).