Planned Parenthood

On a crisp October morning in 1916, Margaret Sanger opened a small clinic in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The sign read simply: Birth Control Clinic. Within days, police raided the place. Sanger was arrested, jailed, and put on trial for violating the Comstock Laws, which made it a crime to distribute contraceptives or even information about them. That clinic lasted only nine days, but it lit a fuse.

Today, Planned Parenthood Federation of America operates more than 600 health centers across the country, serving over two million patients each year. The organization provides a wide range of reproductive and sexual health services: birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, well-woman exams, and abortion care. It is also the nation's largest provider of sex education. Clinics see teenagers and grandparents, people with and without insurance, patients from every walk of life. Around half of the patients rely on Medicaid or other government programs.

Planned Parenthood has long been a lightning rod in American politics. Supporters see it as an essential safety net for basic healthcare. Opponents, particularly anti-abortion groups, have fought for decades to defund it, restrict its services, and shut down its clinics. The organization has weathered arson attacks, legislative battles, and a 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Through it all, Planned Parenthood has remained open, adapting its model to meet patients where they are. [edit]

Planned Parenthood's mission is to provide comprehensive reproductive and sexual healthcare, deliver science-based sex education, and advocate for policies that ensure access to these services for all people. The organization aims to empower individuals to make informed choices about their bodies and lives, regardless of income, insurance, or location. [edit]

The story begins with Margaret Sanger, a nurse who watched her mother die after 18 pregnancies. In 1916, she opened that first Brooklyn clinic with her sister Ethel Byrne. The clinic was shut down, but the trial that followed turned Sanger into a national figure. In 1921, she founded the American Birth Control League. Two years later, she opened the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau in Manhattan, which not only provided contraceptives but also collected data on their safety and effectiveness.

In 1939, the two organizations merged to form the Birth Control Federation of America. It was renamed Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1942, a name chosen to sound less controversial and more family-focused. The 1960s brought major changes: the FDA approved the birth control pill in 1960, and the Supreme Court legalized contraception for married couples in 1965 in Griswold v. Connecticut. Planned Parenthood expanded rapidly, opening clinics in underserved communities.

The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion nationwide, and Planned Parenthood began offering the procedure. That decision also galvanized the anti-abortion movement. In the 1980s and 1990s, clinics faced protests, blockades, and violence. In 1993, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was destroyed by arson. The organization responded by strengthening security and pushing for laws to protect clinic access.

Under Cecile Richards, who became president in 2006, Planned Parenthood weathered a 2011 attempt in Congress to defund it and a series of undercover videos released by anti-abortion activists in 2015. The videos, which were heavily edited, sparked investigations that ultimately cleared the organization of wrongdoing. In 2022, the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturned Roe, and Planned Parenthood shifted its focus to helping patients travel for care and expanding services in states where abortion remains legal. [edit]