What is Planned Parenthood and why is it important?

Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization that provides sexual health care in the United States and globally. Of the people who use its services, 79% have low incomes at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. Women of color, low-income women, and women living in rural areas often have nowhere else to turn. Furthermore, the LGBTQ community disproportionately relies on its services to access birth control, educational resources, and preventive health services. Planned Parenthood is one of the country’s largest providers of healthcare to transgender people. It is often the only culturally-competent center available, especially in more conservative areas of the country. In other words, it is the only provider where transgender and gender nonconforming individuals can receive care and feel safe disclosing their gender identity.

Breakdown of Planned Parenthood Services

Carly's Story

Chenoa’s Story

Did You Know...

85% of Planned Parenthood healthcare patients in the US are age 20 and older
An estimated 1 in 5 women in the US has visited a Planned Parenthood health center at least once in her life
Provides more than 295,000 Pap tests and more than 320,000 breast exams in a single year, critical services in detecting cancer
Provides more than 4.2 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections in a single year
Provides education programs and outreach to 1.5 million people in a single year
Has 10 million activists, supporters, and donors working for women’s health and safety

Planned Parenthood's Decline in Clinics

Download a Planned Parenthood Clinic list here!

How Does Federal Funding Work at Planned Parenthood?

Most of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding comes from

Medicaid reimbursements for preventive care. In other words,

Medicaid reimburses Planned Parenthood’s doctors and

nurses for the preventive medical services they provide. The

remainder of the funding comes from Title X, the nation’s

family planning program. Planned Parenthood serves 1.5

million of Title X’s over 4 million patients each year. It is

important to note that the government saves $7 in

Medicaid-related costs for every dollar invested in publicly

funded family planning programs like Title X. The

Congressional Budget Office projects that barring Planned

Parenthood health centers from being reimbursed through

Medicaid would result in a net cost of $130 million to taxpayers

over 10 years.

Contrary to what many believe, there is no keep-Planned

Parenthood running-part of the federal budget. When politicians say they want to “defund” Planned Parenthood, they essentially mean that they are going to block patients who rely on public health care programs from getting their care at Planned Parenthood centers. This is because at least 60% of Planned Parenthood patients rely on public health programs like Medicaid and Title X for their preventive and primary care.

What is the relationship between Planned Parenthood and HIV?

Planned Parenthood offers HIV testing and counseling. It has over 700 clinics in the country, and in 2015, it provided about 704,000 tests. It aims to decrease the stigma associated with the disease by stressing that getting tested is a “normal part of healthcare” and that HIV is a chronic disease continuum that is really no different than any other chronic disease except that it is obtained primarily through either needle sharing or through sexual contact with the exchange of bodily fluids.

“Planned Parenthood can diagnose a person with HIV and refer them for treatment elsewhere. Our referrals are to specialists that will provide treatment to prevent infection-- it’s called part of the treatment cascade and the HIV continuum of care” … “and the idea is to reduce the viral load of the individual down as low as possible and that will not only keep that person's health, the person who was infected healthy, but it will also protect the HIV infected person’s partners.”

- Planned Parenthood Foundation of America (PPFA)’s Vice President of External Medical Affairs, Dr. Vanessa Cullins

Case Studies

Indiana

In 2015, Indiana fought the worst HIV outbreak in its history. By the end of March, more than 190 people in the small county of Scott, the epicenter of the outbreak, had been tested positive. The state had been without a testing facility since 2013, and the epidemic was largely caused by rampant use of intravenous drugs. The previous sole sterile needle provider, Planned Parenthood, had shuttered due to public health spending cuts. It had been under attack for years as a part of a larger battle in the struggle over abortion rights. Five of Planned Parenthood’s smaller clinics in the state were unable to keep up with the growing technology costs that were necessary to remain competitive as a medical provider, and all of them were forced to close. Mike Pence, who was governor at the time, declared a public health emergency and authorized short-term needle exchange program. What this crisis demonstrated was that often Planned Parenthood is the only testing facility available, and without it, people have no way of knowing what is wrong with their own bodies.

Texas

At the start of 2016, the Texas Department of State Health services announced that it would cut off about $600,000 in funding for HIV prevention services provided by Planned Parenthood. The state then ended its 28 year HIV-prevention contract with Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, which had used this money since 1988 to fund more than 138,000 HIV tests, HIV and STI counseling and education programs, and prevention services such as condom distribution in five counties in the Houston area. Since this contract ended, none of the three counties that were supposed to take over the program have conducted a single HIV test. The deliberate neglect of HIV-prevention services is a testament to the importance of Planned Parenthood’s public health programs.

Grant from

Earlier this year, Gilead Sciences, a research based biopharmaceutical company, awarded a $900,000 grant to support and expand efforts of HIV-prevention and education, including the integration of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), the medical practice of prescribing antiretroviral medication to prevent HIV infection, at Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers across the country over the next 18 months. Disparities in HIV rates remain a serious issue for too many people and communities. Rates of new HIV cases along with barriers to treatment and healthcare access continue to more greatly impact marginalized communities. With this grant, Planned Parenthood can implement life-saving awareness and care not otherwise funded at this scale. The majority of the grant will directly support the efforts of Planned Parenthood affiliates to develop training and resources aimed at delivering a comprehensive program of HIV prevention, including PrEP, along with other methods. The grant work will be carried out in partnership with the Black AIDS Institute, a national HIV and AIDS organization, with the mission of stopping epidemics in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals.

Position on Privacy Rights

Planned Parenthood has declared that it is a person’s right not to tell a sexual partner whether they are HIV-positive. It described its stance in a booklet for the youth entitled “Healthy, Happy, and Hot”: “Young people living with HIV have the right to decide if, when, and how to disclose their HIV status...sharing your HIV status is called disclosure. Your decision about whether to disclose may change with different people and situations.”

Planned Parenthood considers it a violation of HIV-positive people’s rights that they can be charged with a crime in 35 states if they do not divulge their status: “Some countries have laws that say people living with HIV must tell their sexual partners about their status before having sex, even if they use condoms or only engage in sexual activity with a low risk of giving HIV to someone else- these laws violate the rights of people living with HIV by forcing them to disclose or face the possibility of criminal charges.”

The organization argues that there are a lot of people who do not mind whether their partners have HIV because it is their right to experience sexual pleasure. In addition, there are many reasons that people do not share their HIV status. They may not want their peers to know that they are living with the disease due to the stigma associated with it. Furthermore, those in long term relationships who find out that they are living with HIV sometimes fear that their partner will react violently or end the relationship.

Planned Parenthood's Further Work

Planned Parenthood Federation of America announced the second phase of its HIV Prevention Initiative. With the support of a grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc., a research-based biopharmaceutical company, Planned Parenthood will further support and expand HIV prevention efforts across the country, including further integration of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness and education. PrEP is a daily pill that can help people who are at high risk for HIV reduce the risk of transmission.

In 2017, with its first grant from Gilead, PPFA launched its HIV Prevention Initiative (HPI), a multi-phase pilot program aimed at building and expanding the comprehensive HIV prevention and education efforts of 11 affiliates. HPI was carried out in partnership with The Black AIDS Institute, a national organization working to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals. The HPI has allowed Planned Parenthood to reach more people who are at higher risk and train health center staff to better educate patients with the information and resources they need to prevent HIV transmission.

The second phase of HPI will launch a new research project that will inform a patient and community education campaign over the next two years. The campaign will build awareness of HIV prevention and testing and train more Planned Parenthood staff to reach communities with the greatest need, including Black women, transgender women of color, and Spanish-speaking women of color, whose experiences with stigma and discrimination affect their access to health care and the quality of health care they receive, as well as increase their risk of HIV. Stigma and discrimination are among the foremost barriers to HIV prevention, treatment, and support.

Planned Parenthood is uniquely situated to meet the needs of populations disproportionately at risk for negative health outcomes, including HIV. More than half of Planned Parenthood health centers are in health professional shortage areas, rural areas, or medically underserved areas. Additionally, 30 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 45 live within five miles of a Planned Parenthood health center that offers HIV testing, and more than 400 health centers nationwide have implemented comprehensive HIV prevention programs and services including the provision of PrEP.

Planned Parenthood health centers provided more than 4.4 million tests for sexually transmitted infections and over 700,000 HIV tests last year alone. We’re also the nation’s largest provider of sex education and offer local programs that address HIV education and prevention as well as online tools, including information on HIV.

HIV Testing

In the past year Planned Parenthood health centers have administered more than 740,000 HIV tests — a five percent increase in services from the previous year. In total, Planned Parenthood health centers have administered nearly 6.5 million HIV/AIDS tests in the past decade.

Planned Parenthood health centers also offer PrEP, a daily pill that can help reduce transmission for people who are at high risk for HIV, in more than 400 health centers in 44 states across the U.S.

Planned Parenthood Global trains peer educators in Africa and Latin America to share accurate information on HIV and sexual and reproductive health, and distribute condoms to help empower and educate young people in prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as unintended pregnancies. The Planned Parenthood Global Mobile program uses mobile technology to connect young people in Ecuador and Nigeria with health information and services, giving them the power to control their bodies and their lives. Last year, Planned Parenthood Global partners reached more than 1.3 million people with sexual and reproductive health services.

Planned Parenthood stands in solidarity with the millions of people living with and affected by HIV worldwide and the advocates who work diligently to ensure they have access to the care that they need. Planned Parenthood is proud to provide testing for HIV and other STIs in health centers around the country and support partners around the world who are on the frontlines of the global epidemic.