Local Newspapers Across the Country Flooded by an Outpouring of Gratitude for Planned Parenthood

“I stand with Planned Parenthood because access to reproductive health is a human right….” - Zhenia Peterson, Alaska

“If you are a supporter of or if you have donated to Planned Parenthood, you are directly responsible for helping to provide health care to women across the United States.” - Meghan Radosevic, Illinois

“I am a student at the University of Scranton. Planned Parenthood provides me and other students with the access to the reproductive education and services through an unbiased and nonjudgmental environment.” - Samantha Zilla, Pennsylvania

New York -- Papers across the country have been flooded with support from patients, faith leaders, students, and volunteers speaking out about the critical services Planned Parenthood has provided to them as well as to millions across the country. This strong support among voters is echoed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday --- the fourth national poll to show that a majority of Americans support funding for Planned Parenthood and the services it provides, and strongly oppose attempts to block millions of patients across the country from accessing care at Planned Parenthood’s health centers. Three state polls in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire have found similar results, underscoring that voters strongly oppose attempts to defund the non-profit health care provider --- they see doing so as a political liability --- especially when it’s tied to threats of a government shutdown.

Read what supporters are writing, from Maine to Alaska:

Letter to the Editor: The News-Gazette:Senators make right vote on PP(Illinois)

“Some U.S. senators voted to end funding of Planned Parenthood, yet Illinois Sens. Durbin and Kirk voted to continue giving our money to this amazing organization. I hope you're as grateful as I am.”

-Colleen Gorman

Op-Ed: Journal Star: Standing with Planned Parenthood (Illinois)

“By defunding Planned Parenthood, you are not defunding abortions. You are taking essential health services away from women, especially women in low-income communities. If you are a supporter of or if you have donated to Planned Parenthood, you are directly responsible for helping to provide health care to women across the United States. I encourage and applaud those who stand with Planned Parenthood.”

-By Meghan Radosevic

Letter to the Editor: Anchorage Dispatch News: Planned Parenthood offers compassionate health care (Alaska)

“I started going to Planned Parenthood for birth control five years ago, when I had to start paying, on my own, for birth control I needed for medical reasons.... I stand with Planned Parenthood because access to reproductive health is a human right; and Planned Parenthood provides that right with more compassion and knowledge than any other organization I know.”

— Zhenia Peterson

Letter to the Editor: Times-Tribune: Backs Planned Parenthood (Pennsylvania)

-Samantha Zilla

Letter to the Editor: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Planned Parenthood's services help to prevent abortions (Pennsylvania)

“As a supporter of Planned Parenthood, I’m dismayed by the latest attacks on the organization. Heavily doctored videos show extremist activists posing as health care workers badgering longtime physicians, in the hopes of getting them to discuss unethical and criminal activity they clearly know nothing about.”

-Catherine Raphael

Letter to the Editor: Boothbay Register: Being pro-life (Maine)

“Passing anti-abortion laws is a cheap and easy path to self righteous hypocrisy. It requires no sacrifice or commitment on their part, instead pushes the responsibility and consequences on the unprepared parents and the unwelcome child. This is not just a women’s issue; it is a community concern.”

-Fred W. Nehring

Letter to the editor: Portland Press Herald: Collins should support women’s health, equality (Maine)

“Our elected leaders should support the freedom and basic right for women to make decisions regarding our bodies and our reproductive rights. They should encourage family values and pay women and men equal pay for equal work. By investing in this equality and giving women the same ability to contribute to our economy, enormous potential for transformation will be unlocked. I hope Sen. Susan Collins chooses to stand with women by taking action to advance fairness, opportunity and freedom.”

-Sophia Richards

Letter to the Editor: Chicago Tribune: The US still needs Planned Parenthood (Illinois)

“...But Sen. Mark Kirk was the only Republican to vote no. He was the only Republican to stand up for my rights and refuse to let women and men suffer through denial of care. And in today’s hyperpoliticized climate, that is no small feat.

“But Kirk should not have been the only one. Republican politicians across the country have staked out dangerous ground trying to deny millions of women life-saving care.

“As a volunteer with Planned Parenthood, I have heard the stories of women in desperate situations who had nowhere else to turn. As a patient of Planned Parenthood, I know what it is like to need a doctor who will treat you with the highest standard of care, free from institutional bias. And, as a woman who would not be here today if the women before me had not had access to reproductive health care, I know the human value of these services.”

— Laura Narefsky

Op-Ed: The Indianapolis Star: Sasso: Planned Parenthood provides vital services to women (Indiana)

“But the truth is, we have such an organization, and our government is talking about defunding it. Planned Parenthood is the largest U.S. provider of reproductive health services. The millions of women who are or who have been Planned Parenthood patients attest to its life-saving work. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky serve 67,000 patients a year.”

-Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

Letter to the Editor: Oroville Mercury-Register: Planned Parenthood a vital health care provider (California)

“Let’s be reasonable when we talk about Planned Parenthood. It does more to prevent abortions through education and family planning care than anti-abortion laws ever will. Heath care should be considered a basic human right.”

—Flannery LaGrave

Read additional examples below:

Anchorage Dispatch News: Defense of Planned Parenthood not blunted by letter writer's attack or senator's vote (Alaska)

The Colorado Independent: Reader’s view: Sen. Irene Aguilar on the anti-abortion video attack on Planned Parenthood (Colorado)

Springfield News-Leader: Letter: Planned Parenthood is under attack (Illinois)

Florida Times-Union: Letters: Reader responds to Planned Parenthood column (Florida)

The State Journal-Register: Lies about Planned Parenthood abound (Illinois)

Springfield News-Leader: Letter: Planned Parenthood is under attack (Missouri)

Daily Record: LETTER: Planned Parenthood attacks shameful (New Jersey)

The Daily Journal: LETTER: GOP doesn’t care about women or poor children (New Jersey)

The Buffalo News: Planned Parenthood videos hurt those who need help (New York)

Citizen-Times:Letter: Where will push against Planned Parenthood end?(North Carolina)