Thankful Thursday: Planned Parenthood edition

I'm thankful for Planned Parenthood.

They were there for me when I was a starving college student with no money and no insurance. I hope they can continue to be there for the women and men who need them.

Did you know that...

• over the past 75 years, Planned Parenthood of North Texas has provided healthcare to more than 2.2 million patients?
• PPNT serves men as well as women, in 29 health centers service 57 counties across North Texas?
• the majority of PPNT's patients are 20-29 years old, earn less than $300 a week, and have no health insurance?
• PPNT is the only nonprofit family planning provider in Tarrant County?
• PPNT provides vital preventative healthcare, including:
• birth control options,
• well-woman exams,
• screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes,
• even flu shots?
• PPNT does more cervical cancer screenings than any other healthcare provider in Texas?
• PPNT educates parents, teens, educators, medical professionals, and civic and religious leaders?
• PPNT advocates for
• healthcare access and availability,
• comprehensive and confidential care,
• and accurate information about sexual health?

Well, now you do.

Feel free to do something to help.

Stolen Words Wednesday: Sean James and Al Joyner Respond to the Tebow Super Bowl Ad

Pass real health care reform, not another abortion ban

"Facts? We don't need to teach you no stinkin' FACTS!"

Here in Texas, we don't need to worry about silly things like scientific facts when we teach, like, science (I mean, really -- HOW are those even related!) Evolution? That's so weak. There is no proof! It's just a theory! We're not going to let the LIBERAL MEDIA brainwash our children with their "insufficient" theories on, like, evolution and the Big Bang and whatnot.

You see how much we value factual information in our classrooms. So it is really a surprise that we don't want no stinkin' medically-accurate information in our health classes?

So far the three bills introduced in the Texas legislature this session trying to get FACTS in sex ed classes have gone nowhere. What did these radical bills demand?

• SB 1076 / HB 1567 "would require that information about contraception and disease prevention in sexuality education classes be scientifically accurate. It would also require that sexuality education classes not discourage sexually active people from using any form of contraception or method approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases."
• SB 515 / HB 741 (Education Works) "would require that information taught in public school sexuality education classes be medically accurate. They would also require that schools teaching about sexuality education include information about the importance of abstinence and medically accurate information about contraception and other methods of responsible pregnancy and disease prevention."
• SB 1100 / HB 1694 "would require that sexuality information taught to students be medically accurate and that schools inform parents about what they are teaching in sexuality education classes."

(emphasis mine)

RADICAL, I know. We are "stealing children's innocence" by giving them MEDICALLY-ACCURATE FACTS!!! How much more depraved can you get!

As Planned Parenthood of North Texas put it in an email sent out last night,

PPNT alerted you a few days ago that representatives in Austin were introducing amendments to an education-related bill (SB 283) that would require information taught in sexuality education courses be medically accurate. Thank you to everyone who called or e-mailed your legislator in support of these amendments!

Unfortunately, the House bill sponsor Rep. Mark Shelton (R-Fort Worth), who is a doctor, chose not to accept these amendments. They were then withdrawn after a point of order ruled they were unrelated to the subject of the bill. The bill pertained to School Health Advisory Councils (SHACs), locally appointed councils whose function (among others) is to recommend sexuality education curricula to their school boards.

This means there is no guarantee Texas' teens will receive factual information in their sex ed classes next fall.

Currently, Texas law does not require that the health curriculum in Texas classrooms be medically accurate. You might think such a law would be unnecessary, but a recent survey of sex education curriculum in Texas schools* found that almost half of what is taught is scientifically unsound.

However, the session is not over—any day now, the Texas Legislature could consider other bills that could restrict access to health care or information. Stay tuned for future updates.

*by the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund

(emphasis theirs, links mine)

Somebody remind me again why I live in this state?

Science, stem cells, and suicide: what would Jesus do?

Today, I'm in Austin, with Planned Parenthood, asking my legislators to put science back in sex ed classrooms. Or, rather, to put the "ed" back in "sex ed."* So we can put an end to this.

Earlier this week, we got the good news that President Obama** lifted the ban on stem-cell research, his first step toward putting science back in science. To read the details, go here: Blog for Choice - Community, Connection, Change

Of course, this made the anti-choice side angry, because stem cells come from embryos. Now, I've already told you when life does and does not begin, so you know that, to me, an embryo does not mean "a life," unless the mother deems it so (and these are not the embryos whose stem cells are being used, are they?)

Stem-cell research can save lives. Extra-uterine, unequivocal lives -- those both sides of the reproductive rights debate all agree are people. These lives are connected to many other lives, who are also affected by what happens to that life with cancer, or heart disease, or Alzheimer's. Can the in-vitro embryos say the same? Yes, they are meaningful potential lives to the parents seeking the fertility treatments, but if that couple has already had one, or two, or three (or more) successful IVF pregnancies and they are not looking to have any more children, whose lives are going to be affected if those extra embryos never become babies, and instead are used for scientific research, to help save lives?

An interesting thought hit me the other day, when mulling all this over.

God is not against death (He's against murder, but not death). After all, He sent His son to Earth -- to die so others could live.

When you think about it, you could even say Jesus commited suicide (but He did it for a really good reason).

Jesus knew He was going to be crucified. He knew how and when it was going to happen, and therefore He knew how He could get out of it, if He had wanted to. The disciples told Him to get out of it. But He didn't -- He walked into His own death.

But He did it to save all of us. He sacrificed Himself, for us. For all of our lives.

So why are His followers so angry about a potential life doing the same thing Jesus did? God sacrificed His son for the good of the many; why can't we do the same?

What would Jesus do? Probably allow His stem cells to be used for life-saving research.


*As a friend of mine pointed out, the students are already "sexed." We need to get them educated about sex (and contraceptives).

**I'm sorry, but I just really like saying that. It makes me happy.

Greenville Ave. St. Patrick's Day Parade

Everybody's going to watch it -- wanna be in the Parade?

Come pass out beads, candy, and condoms with Planned Parenthood of North Texas!

The Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day Parade will be Saturday, March 14th. The parade starts at 11:00, but if you want to walk with us you have to get there early; we'll meet at 8:00. Planned Parenthood participates every year -- it's a great way to reach out to tens of thousands of people from the Metroplex! (Many of whom plan on a weekend of drunken debauchery -- they need those condoms!!!)

If you want to join us, contact Denise Rodríguez at info.public@ppnt.org or 214-363-2004 ext. 185. Please RSVP by Friday, so they can make sure to have enough t-shirts! (You must RSVP, btw.)

Go here to see some photos from last year's parade (or 2007's, if you scroll down).

This Week in Pro-Choicing*

Planned Parenthood's Lobby Day is Thursday! Have you signed up yet? (Today's the last day!)

We will urge our legislators to:

• increase funding for marketing and advertising for the Women's Health Program, which provides family planning and other basic health care to women who do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance. This is a GREAT PROGRAM, and it can save the state BILLIONS -- but less than 17% of the women eligible for the program are on it. Why? Because the budget to advertise this program is so tiny, nobody knows about it. My mother is a social worker, has worked with the state and county for years, counseling low-income women and children, and she had no idea about the program
• support Prevention Works! (HB 1694/SB 1100):

  Prevention Works! is a family planning initiative that expands access to preventive family planning health care services and education programs to help reduce unintended pregnancy, prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and improve women's health overall — all while saving scarce public health dollars.

  Prevention Works! will increase outreach and education so more eligible low-income women can learn about Texas' family planning programs. By expanding knowledge about state family planning programs, it is projected that thousands of low-income women will learn about access basic, preventive services like well-woman exams, contraception, screening for sexually transmitted infections, and screening for breast and cervical cancer.

  Did you know that "According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, for every $1 spent on family planning, $3 is saved in Medicaid costs for prenatal, delivery, and first-year infant care. Medicaid currently pays for more than half of all births in Texas, costing millions of public health dollars each year"?

• support Education Works! (HB 741/SB 515):

  Currently, Texas law does not require schools to provide sexuality education courses. If a school does choose to offer a sexuality education course, Texas mandates that the program must stress abstinence as the preferred behavior for unmarried persons as a way to prevent unintended pregnancies and STIs. Unfortunately, most of abstinence-only sex education programs in Texas schools often give misleading or outright false information about condoms and contraceptives, leading teens to believe that condoms and birth control are not effective.

  HB 714/SB 515, also known as Education Works!, would require schools to still discuss abstinence but also require information be included alongside about testing and prevention for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and complete, medically-accurate information about the health benefits and risks of contraception and condoms.

  Additionally, these bill includes strategies to encourage young people to develop healthy communications with their parents and peers, and help build other living skills such as goal setting and responsible decision-making about sexuality.

Did you see that last part, about building living skills and about responsible decision-making about sexuality?

Look, unless they're planning on turning to a life of the cloth, everyone will have sex at some point. Do we teach this in college? It wasn't part of my liberal arts degree (and if it should be part of any non-medical degree, wouldn't it be part of the liberal arts?) Please, let's give women the information they need to take care of their bodies, regardless of when they choose to have sex.

For more info on these bills, or to take action even if you can't go to Lobby Day, visit Planned Parenthood of North Texas's site or visit Education Works!


NARAL Tweeted some interesting links today:

Where to pass the torch? Those of us who have grown up post-Roe v. Wade don't understand what the women before us had to go through to secure the rights we take for granted. While some of us write our Congresspeople when ugly bills come up, how much of a commitment are we willing to make? Will there be enough of us to carry the torch when the generation who gave us these rights retires?

And some good news! Obama Aims to Shield Science from Politics, lifting the ban on funding for stem-cell research.

"The president believes that it's particularly important to sign this memorandum so that we can put science and technology back at the heart of pursuing a broad range of national goals," Melody C. Barnes, director of Obama's Domestic Policy Council, told reporters during a telephone briefing yesterday.

On a slightly related note... Catholic Church, you know why I hate you? Because of stuff like this: Catholic Church Excommunicates Doctors for Aiding Raped Child. Seriously, what is wrong with you?

While I'm on the subject of bills and laws and policies, I also read a ReTweet asking me to sign a petition to keep tax dollars from funding abortions. This petition blamed the Freedom of Choice Act as the culprit; please read this article to educate yourself about the FOCA, which pretty much merely upholds Roe v. Wade:

Freedom of Choice Act - Declares that it is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to: (1) bear a child; (2) terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability; or (3) terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect her life or her health.

Prohibits a federal, state, or local governmental entity from: (1) denying or interfering with a woman's right to exercise such choices; or (2) discriminating against the exercise of those rights in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information. Provides that such prohibition shall apply retroactively.

Authorizes an individual aggrieved by a violation of this Act to obtain appropriate relief, including relief against a governmental entity, in a civil action.

(Text copied from the House version, but the Senate version says the same.) Also? According to THOMAS, neither bill has seen action since 2007 (May 4th and April 19th, respectively). We know the anti-choice side likes to deal with scare tactics and misinformation (as they do in their abstinence-only programs), but... am I the only one who finds all this a little silly? Getting your people all riled up over something that's not even happening? Isn't there a better way for you to spend your time, energy, and resources?


Trying to figure out how to close this post (looking for something a little more positive than the above), I saw this from the White House blog: Remembering Christopher Reeve.


*With apologies to Nathan Bransford for the blatant plagiarism.

Lobby Day is in One Week!

From Planned Parenthood of North Texas:

Your Legislators Need to Hear Your Voice!

Lobby Day is next week and we can't do it without you! Your legislators need to hear your voice of reason on issues you care about, like family planning funding and sex education in our schools.

Join us on Thursday, March 12 for Lobby Day 2009!

Sign-up here: http://www.ppnt.org/lobbyday2009.html.

During Lobby Day, Planned Parenthood supporters from all over Texas travel to Austin to meet with legislators and their staff to discuss important reproductive health issues.

Help us educate legislators about life-saving and cost-effective family planning for women and medically accurate sex education for teens.

No experience necessary! The last day to register is Monday, March 9, so register today.

What Planned Parenthood really does

Okay, so I was going to write about the case I heard about a few years ago, where Planned Parenthood fought in court for a minor's right to keep the baby; the parents wanted the girl to have an abortion, but the girl didn't want to. She went to Planned Parenthood and they fought for her right to choose what she wanted to happen to her body and her life.

Unfortunately, my cursory Google search did not pull up any links to this story. So instead, I'll just have to go with my own, less-litigious personal experience with Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood is often portrayed as this big baby-killing corporation, which makes my blood boil. First of all, most PP locations don't even perform abortion services themselves: when I had my abortion, none of the centers in Austin -- yes, Liberal Capital of The World Texas -- did. If you look on PP's website, you'll see a list of 95 health centers. Of those 95, a mere 10 provide actual abortion services; six of them are in small towns where I'll bet these services are not offered anywhere else within reasonable driving distance (towns such as Bryan/College Station). If you check the fine print, you will see that those centers are operated by a separate PP organization which does not receive PP funding. There is a center in Dallas and one in Ft. Worth that provide actual abortion services, but both are operated by Planned Parenthood Surgical Health Services, not by Planned Parenthood of North Texas, which is the organization we're talking about when we say "Planned Parenthood." That is the organization that receives funding from the government to provide health services for women. Therefore, when they talk about money for Planned Parenthood, NO, none of that money goes to abortion services (those centers receive no funding at all).

Where does the money go? PREVENTION.

Cancer prevention. Did you know Planned Parenthood performs more cervical cancer screenings than any other organization in the state? They also perform a slew of breast cancer screenings. Mostly for women who couldn't afford them otherwise.

And, of course, pregnancy prevention. (Because that's how we reduce the number of abortions, we reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies.) Education about and access to birth control.

You know what else they do?

True to the choice movement, they offer you all the choices available to you.

When I walked into that Planned Parenthood office in South Austin almost a decade ago (golly, I'm old...) I had already firmly made up my mind. I knew what my options were, I knew what my situation was, and I knew what was best for me and for that potential child, who did not deserve to be brought into the situation I would have brought it into. I was nervous, I was embarrassed, but I was firmly decided.

I told the receptionist I needed to get information about getting an abortion. (The word refused to come out of my mouth; yes, the same word I'd thrown around so carelessly when discussing politics and hypothetical situations suddenly because a sound I could not, for the life of me, utter. But the receptionist knew what word I was trying to say.)

They took me to a room, more like a private waiting room than a clinic examination room, with pamphlets in pockets on the walls and on the little side table. She asked me if I'd considered giving the baby up for adoption, and also told me there were government services that would help me raise my child if I chose to keep it.

I was confused. Why was she telling me all this? Why didn't she take me in to see a doctor? I told her what I wanted, why was she telling me about the stuff I already knew I didn't want?

Because that's what they do. They educate. They offer choices.

Even to those who, like I did, go in there saying, "I don't want to hear about my options, I already decided what I'm doing!"

In 2008, 14,000 women went in to Planned Parenthood locations here in North Texas specifically to get a pregnancy test (the centers did more tests than that, but those are the women who went in just for that). I don't know how many of those tests came out positive (they have not finished getting all the numbers from 2008 yet), but PP referred 7,410 women to adoption and pre-natal care services.

In 2007, they referred 6,225 women to abortion services. They referred 7,955 to adoption and pre-natal care services.

Planned Parenthood of North Texas works closely with the Gladney Center for Adoption to find out which services are available to women who wish to put their baby up for adoption, and other related services and information.

Again, the pro-choice movement is not about "getting abortions." It's about educating women about their options and giving them access to the information, medication, and health services they need. Planned Parenthood is about women's health -- it just so happens that reproductive health is a big part of women's health, and reproductive health happens to, sometimes, include abortion.


Thank you to Holly Morgan, Director of Communications at Planned Parenthood of North Texas, for the info on the number of referrals for 2008 and 2007 and the services PP offers.