Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What Planned Parenthood does.

Many people have personal experiences from when they visited their local Planned Parenthood. Depending upon where we go, why we go, and when we go, we can each have a different experience.

Some people claim that Planned Parenthood only deals with abortions, and backs this up with a personal experience about how they went to their local PP and were counseled on abortion. For some reason, they seem to think that this means every single Planned Parenthood clinic and the organization as a whole only does what the one counselor they encountered did. This could not be farther from the truth.

Planned Parenthood is an international organization, yes. But their clinics are not franchises, where every "item" on the "menu" has to be exactly the same (such as a McDonalds does). Each Planned Parenthood has different services they are able to provide, based upon their location, the laws of the area and the doctors/nurses/workers available in the area.

For instance, some Planned Parenthoods perform abortions. Others do not. The one I visited the first time I needed a checkup does not perform abortions- they only deal with STDs, birth control and exams. Some PPs offer prenatal care- I have a friend who went to Planned Parenthood for all of her prenatal care during her first pregnancy as a teenager. Other Planned Parenthood locations have agreements with local adoption groups to provide resources and avenues for women looking to place a child up for adoption. Some PPs can even test you for fertility, and provide infertility treatments!


There are a whole range of services offered by Planned Parenthood as an organization. If you want to know which ones are offered at your local clinic, you can look it up here.

So next time, instead of making an assumption about what Planned Parenthood does based upon the one nurse you interact with, remember that you're seeing one small part of what Planned Parenthood is and does.

16 comments:

  1. "Some people claim that Planned Parenthood only deals with abortions"

    They don't ONLY do abortion but they are the LARGEST abortion center in the country.

    Planned Parenthood in 2007: 305,310 Abortions, 4,912 Adoption Referrals
    http://liveaction.org/blog/planned-parenthood-abortions-vs-adoption-referrals/

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  2. Lisa, telling me how many abortions PP performs does not tell me that they are the largest provider. However, the fact wouldn't surprise me. What does that matter? Yes, some Planned Parenthood clinics perform abortions. Some perform prenatal care, some provide adoption referrals.

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  3. The vast majority of abortions are performed at private clinics (ie. a woman will see her regular OB/GYN or another private doctor). PP is NOT the largest provider.

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  4. ok anonymous @ 454 am - statistical back up please.

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  5. Oh, and Pro-choice Christian - You mignt want to change the way your profile reads. "...who wants to reduce the NEED for ELECTIVE abortions..." is a contradiction of terms. If a procedure is elective, it is done WITHOUT need, i.e. nose jobs, eye lifts, abortions..... they are called elective because there is no emergent (or even non-emergent)medical need to perform any of these procedures. And yes, the overwhelming majority of abortions are clinically classified as elective. I reiterate, this means there is no medical need as a basis for carrying out the procedure. As a matter of fact, 'necessary' is listed as an antonym of 'elective'.

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  6. Women who abort electively have need for their procedure. There isn't a need in terms of life or health, which is why they're called elective. If I were to change something, I would change the term 'elective'- however, that term is the best one available to allow other people to understand my opinion.

    Thank you for your thoughts, though.

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  7. Please explain the 'need'.

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  8. ...oh, and why do you want to tell people that all Planned Parenthood clinics don't do abortions?

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  9. I'm not sure what you want me to explain. A woman who wants to terminate her pregnancy needs an abortion.

    As for your second question- because its true. not every clinic performs abortions. Just like not every clinic performs prenatal care.

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  10. I've explained many times to different people the difference between a 'want' and a 'need'. I would just like you to explain why it is a need, as opposed to a want.

    I can sit here and say the sun is shining because it is the truth. There is no point to it....it's just the truth. Just wondering if you had a point you were trying to make.

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  11. My point was to inform people of the truth. Not everyone is as educated as you seem to be.

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  12. Ok.....informing them of what Planned Parenthood is and does is a little redundant, but whatever....

    What about the first part? Why is it when a woman wants an abortion it is a 'need' as opposed to a 'want'?

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  13. I see you never answered the "want" vs "need" question. I can only assume you grabbed your dictionary and looked them up only to realize you had not defense for your misuse of the English language. If I want an ice cream cone I clearly don't need it. Especially if that ice cream cone is going to cause the death of an innocent child.

    I find your blog offensive. I don't know what liberal crap filled church you belong to but the very idea of a "pro-choice" christian is a contradiction in terms.

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  14. Josh, I never answered because I had already answered above. A woman who wants to terminate her pregnancy needs an abortion.

    I'm sorry I've offended you. Sometimes the truth is hard to accept.

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  15. Christian pro-choicer??? NO such thing you are either with God or against him there are no two ways about it. The person who wrote this has no concept of what the bible says, therefore you better re-examine your supposed Christianity. Saying you are a pro-choice is like saying yes I worship Jesus, but I love the devil too.

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  16. Yes, anonymous, a prochoice Christian. You might want to read my other posts to see why being prochoice is the best way to be Christian.

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