Planned Parenthood Supporters Rally for Health Care Reform
For Immediate Release: May 11, 2012
THOUSANDS SEND MESSAGE THAT IT'S TIME TO DELIVER ON WOMEN'S HEALTH CARE
Thousands of Planned Parenthood supporters across the country today told Congress that it’s time to deliver on women’s health care at grassroots events that were part of a nationwide Day of Action on health care reform. The events, with the theme Time to Deliver: Real Reform Includes Women’s Health Care, emphasized that women must have access to comprehensive reproductive health care from the trusted provider of their choice.
“As a leading women’s health care advocate and provider, Planned Parenthood knows firsthand the importance of making sure women are a priority in health care reform,” said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “That’s why women are speaking out during this Day of Action and telling their elected officials that it’s time to deliver on women’s health care.”
From mobile phone banks on college campuses to house parties to delivering postcards to their local members of Congress, Planned Parenthood affiliates organized more than 60 grassroots events. Planned Parenthood has also mobilized thousands of young people through Facebook to contact their local members of Congress.
“Women must not be left worse off after health care reform,” said Richards. “That means we need commonsense proposals that give women access to reproductive health care and the opportunity to go to their provider of choice.”
In families across the country, women are the primary decision makers on health care. That’s why women are speaking out about the need for health care reform, and the need to make women’s health a priority.
With the economic downturn, more and more women have turned to community health centers, including the more than 850 run by Planned Parenthood affiliates, as a source of high-quality health care at costs they can afford. For many of these women, Planned Parenthood serves as their primary or sole health care provider. A recent Guttmacher Institute study found that more than six in 10 patients who receive care at a women’s health center like Planned Parenthood consider it their primary source of health care. These community health centers are an integral part of the nation’s health care system.
More than 90 percent of the health care Planned Parenthood provides is preventive and primary care. Every year, Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers provide nearly one million cervical cancer screenings, more than 850,000 breast exams, contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients, more than three million tests and treatments for STDs, including HIV, and nearly 50,000 colposcopies.