According to the research, "an outpouring of public donations helps Planned Parenthood significantly expand our breast health training, outreach, and medical programs -- and helps several thousand more low-income patients get biopsies and other advanced diagnostic screening" (Planned Parenthood, 2013, p 7). Currently, public donations only accounted for about 26% of the organization's revenue. This would not be enough for the organization to sustain itself without government funding. Campaigns to increase awareness and reach out to community members would ultimately help increase this percentage so that the organization could still operate in the event that government funding is cut.
(Planned Parenthood, 2013)
(Planned Parenthood, 2013)
Current and Future Direction
Promoting national sex education programs remains one of the organization's biggest current programs. Here, the research suggests that "Planned parenthood is an extensive grassroots direct service provider that impacts the national dialogue about teenage access to reproductive services" and sexual health education (Richards, 2007). Thus, it continues to fund and produce sexual education programs and services for patients of all walks of life.
Margaret Sanger's fighting spirit is still very much alive in the modern Planned Parenthood of today. The organization "believes that the freedom to manage one's own fertility is a fundamental right; a fundamental right that should not be abrogated by any criteria, including age" (Richards, 2007, p 57). Thus, it is willing to fight to keep providing these services to those in need. The organization is pro-choice, with abortions making up about 3% of the services provided by the organization (Planned Parenthood, 2013). Yet, it is this issue that has put it in the line of fire. Many Conservative Republicans in government have tried to cut funding because of the controversy surrounding abortions. In 2011, one piece of legislation almost ruined the organization; "under the Pence amendment, other clinics that provide reproductive health services to low-income men and women would still get Title X funding, as long as they didn't offer abortions, and the government would still pay for Medicaid recipients' reproductive health care" (Marcotte, 2011). However, this would be a clear violation of what the organization stands for. Thus, Planned Parenthood has stayed...
Thus, "the political arm of Planned Parenthood is
preparing to launch its largest campaign offensive ever, targeting more than a dozen states and some of the cycle's top Senate and gubernatorial races to raise the alarm about the stakes of the 2014 midterm elections for women's health care and abortion rights" (Burns, 2014). Planned Parenthood is sacrificing some of its donations in order to help back Democratic Pro-choice friendly campaigns. This will ultimately help secure funding for the next two years. Overall, "the cost of the midterm campaign is expected to cross the $18 million mark, including $2.4 million the group spent in 2013 for Virginia's off-year governor's
race, officials with the group said. That
investment would make the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Votes -- the national federation's political entities -- two of the heaviest outside spenders on the Democratic side, and certainly among the top independent expenditure campaigns focused on reaching women" (Burns, 2014). This is the only way the organization believes it can help keep politics working in its favor. The expenses of such a strategy are enormous, as Planned Parenthood will be one of the largest charitable contributors to this
election. However, the stakes are too high to let Conservative Republicans get an unfair advantage in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. With government funding being so crucial to daily
operations and the ability for the organization to provide quality care, it is a necessary expense to protect its crucial sources of funding.
References
Burns, Alexander. (2014). Planned Parenthood reveals big 2014 game plan. Politico. Web. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/planned-parenthood-2014-elections-104007.html
Halloran, Liz. (2011). Abortion foes target family planning program. NPR. Web. http://www.npr.org/2011/03/22/134662664/abortion-foes-target-family-planning-program
Marcotte, Amanda. (2011). Why fiscal conservatives should embrace planned parenthood. Slate. Web. http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2011/03/why_fiscal_conservatives_should_embrace_planned_parenthood.html
Planned Parenthood. (2013). Annual Report 2012-2013. Web. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/AR-FY13_111213_vF_rev3_ISSUU.pdf
Planned Parenthood. (2014).
Richards, Thomas. (2007). Spotlight on: Planned Parenthood. Children's Legal Rights Journal, 27(57), 57-63.
