Health Care Reform & Planned Parenthood
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70th CELEBRATING 70 YEARS OF Anniversary FALL 2009 PLANNING FAMILIES, PLANNING FUTURES. The Newsletter of The Planned Parenthood Trust of San Antonio and South Central Texas HWE PROVIDE ANORIZONSD PROTECT THE SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE AND INFORMATION PEOPLE NEED TO PLAN THEIR FAMILIES AND THEIR FUTURES. Health Care Reform & Planned Parenthood STORY ON PAGE 9 The Planned Parenthood Trust of San Antonio and South Central Texas 2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR Planned Parenthood and the “nested P” are registered trademarks of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. Mindi Alterman CHAIR–ELECT TABLE OF CONTENTS Rev. Jon D. Lowry VICE-CHAIR Suzanne Martinez 2 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE TREASURER Alan Kramer Page Three News: 3-4 FAMILY PLANNING: SECRETARY Tough Times Call for Legislative Action Elizabeth Garza, Ph.D. SM PAST CHAIR 5 HABLA CON TU HERMANA Isabel de la Riva Commemorates Breast Cancer Awareness Month Colleen Casey 5 A DEMONSTRATION OF LOVE Minerva De La Garza Promotora Cuts Her Hair in Solidarity Kenny Davis Rev. Consuelo Donahue John E. Evans 6 PATIENT STORY Cheryl Freed Lynette Maddocks Gatlin Planned Parenthood Welcomes Elena Guajardo, MSW 6 DR. MAYA ANGELOU Lupita Gutierrez April 14, 2010 Martha M. Hixon Phyllis A. Massengale, CPA Emma L. Mendiola Patron Party: Kevin Moore 7 2009 PATRON PARTY Yvonne Morales 8 GET SMARTSM Addresses Myths, Educates Teens PRESIDENT & CEO Jeffrey Hons Cover Story: HEALTH CARE REFORM & PLANNED PARENTHOOD VICE PRESIDENT FOR PROGRAM 9-12 PROMOTION & SUPPORT Sandy Doughton PPFA President 13 CECILE RICHARDS VISITS SAN ANTONIO VICE PRESIDENT FOR CLINIC OPERATIONS Polin Barraza, RN 14 SLAM YOUR RIGHTS! VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNITY AFFAIRS 15-16 DONOR RECOGNITION Yvonne Gutierrez MEDICAL DIRECTOR 17 IN HONOR OF . Dr. Margaret Boozer 17 IN MEMORY OF . HORIZONS EDITORS Yvonne Gutierrez and Mara Posada Donor Profile: 18 RUTH STEWART RN PUBLICATION ART DIRECTOR Supporter since 1991 Adriana Garcia Support Planned Parenthood Through 18 WORKPLACE GIVING BACK COVER PX2 CAMPAIGN One gift…Twice the Impact the time of their family planning appointment in our PRESIDENT’S clinics. Further, I excluded anyone who came to us for abortion care (165 minors), so the 2,548 is pure prevention of teenage pregnancy among minors. MESSAGE Finally, and quite interesting, there were another 185 JEFFREY HONS, PRESIDENT & CEO young men age 17 and younger who came to Planned Parenthood for family planning and sexual health care. Over the last several weeks I have been thinking about the recent news coverage and grassroots advocacy I began my career in family planning twenty years supporting Project WORTH, the sex education ago. In the intervening years, I’ve listened to a great and teen pregnancy prevention program funded many reports on programs of all sorts, public and and supervised by the City of San Antonio. I was private, throughout the region, that aim to prevent teen heartened to see so many people expressing support pregnancy. I don’t recall programs that were able to for this program and its work to help teenagers reach the number of young women we do at Planned postpone parenting until they are adults themselves. Parenthood – truly preventing pregnancy. Too-soon pregnancy is a complex and vexing public I love Planned Parenthood. It is more than my career, health concern and it will require many and varied it is my passion. But I realize young people need a lot efforts to help reduce the number of teens in San more than a Planned Parenthood clinic to keep their Antonio who become pregnant. A major study recently lives on track and avoid pregnancy in their teenage released by Child Trends years. This is why I am (see page 8) identified thrilled to see so many San Antonio as the third 2,548 girls who were varied programs working most likely city in the with young people. But United States where teen young people do need moms will experience a sexually active were Planned Parenthood, too, second pregnancy whilst along with everything else. in their teenage years. avoiding pregnancy Further, I would like to These findings disturb me hear Planned Parenthood greatly as I contemplate all of the young people whose proudly included in those important conversations full potential will be thwarted as they struggle with too about the array of programs and services that much, too soon. Many of these teenagers are already in comprise the teen pregnancy prevention efforts in our difficult life situations so I doubt they are ready to care cities and communities. for a child. Nor do I think that becoming a parent at a young age is going to help resolve any of the troubles Finally, and perhaps as a footnote, the people who they were facing before the pregnancy. protest on the sidewalk outside my office window do nothing, absolutely nothing, to prevent so much Let me reiterate and be clear: I am supportive of as one teen pregnancy. They do nothing to prevent all efforts that help young people avoid too-soon one abortion while Planned Parenthood prevents pregnancy. Anyone who takes up this cause has thousands of abortions with our family planning clinics. a friend in me. But I was struck, perhaps even And their protests do nothing to help vulnerable, perplexed, that while the city had a conversation about at-risk teens keep their fragile lives pointed toward a teen pregnancy prevention there was no mention successful adulthood. of Planned Parenthood in particular, or even the importance of family planning clinics and birth control I would like Planned Parenthood’s incredible volume in general. of service delivery and teen pregnancy prevention success to be recognized and praised. Our supporters I believe Planned Parenthood is the city’s most know the tremendous work that we do each day to effective teen pregnancy prevention program. That’s prevent unplanned and too soon pregnancies. It is a big claim so let’s look at the numbers. In 2008, time that we spread our message far and wide, and Planned Parenthood provided family planning services amplify our collective voice. to 2,548 young women age 17 and younger. This is a tremendous success. That means 2,548 girls who were sexually active were avoiding pregnancy. In researching this number, I excluded the additional JEFFREY HONS, PRESIDENT & CEO 3,172 teenage women who were age 18 or 19 at 2 PAGE THREE NEWS FAMILY PLANNING: “Many women are struggling to obtain the TOUGH TIMES CALL FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION care they need; they report having a harder time paying for contraceptive services, and The economy. The subject continues to permeate the worry about taking time off from work to obtain headlines. The national rate of unemployment is at 10%, health care. We found evidence of women the highest level in decades. And here in Texas, we have the not using birth control and using methods highest percentage of uninsured adults than any other state inconsistently — all in an effort to save money. – a whopping 30%1. Right now, families are making sacrifices Women who use these short-term money- saving strategies are at risk for long-term to survive, forgoing preventive health care, including family negative consequences, including unintended planning. pregnancy.” In May, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Women need access to family planning released the results of a survey that revealed that one in five and sexual health care now more than ever married women ages 18 – 44 says, “the shaky economy has regardless of their ability to pay. As it stands, women of childbearing age spend 68 percent affected their plans to increase the size of their family.” More more in out-of-pocket health care costs than recently, in September, the Guttmacher Institute released men, in part because of reproductive health- an in-depth study titled, A Real-Time Look at the Impact of related needs. The number of women in need the Recession on Women’s Family Planning and Pregnancy of publicly funded family planning services Decisions. The study provides further concrete evidence that nationally (currently 17.5 million) increased by more than one million (seven percent) women’s contraceptive use and childbearing decisions have between 2000 and 2006. In Texas, more than been affected by the recession. Some of the findings, while 1.8 million women are currently in need of disturbing, were anticipated: subsidized family planning services. • More than half of the women surveyed reported being worse off Help is quite possibly on the way. The Medicaid financially than they were a year ago. Family Planning State Option (MFPSO) is a provision within the proposed House and Senate federal health care reform bills, It is • More than one in four women said they or their partners have lost a proven-effective approach to expanding jobs or health insurance in the last year. coverage for family planning and reproductive health care services, while at the same time The specific findings about family planning decisions demand our attention: generating significant cost savings for states • Nearly one in four women reported delaying a gynecological or and the federal government. This provision contraceptive visit because of financial concerns. would give states the option to establish parity between eligibility for pregnancy-related care • The women who are financially worse off were more likely to and eligibility for family planning services under report changes in contraception use and childbearing decisions, Medicaid. MFPSO would expand Medicaid including being more likely to forgo contraception or switch to a for states at the federal level. The savings long-term contraceptive method in order to save money. are substantial. The Congressional Budget Office determined that MFPSO would save And, $700 million over ten years.