South Dakota Planned Parenthood Advocate

A High-Five, a Shout-Out, or a Thank You

By: Cecile Richards, President Planned Parenthood Federation of America

  Last week, the Senate rejected the Blunt amendment, a measure that would have allowed any employer to deny women who work for them insurance coverage for any essential health benefit, including birth control, for any moral or religious reason. After weeks of debate and an enormous outcry from Planned Parenthood supporters nationwide, the message is clear: birth control is basic health care, and your medical decisions should be between you and your doctor.

This is a huge victory for women's health, and I’m pleased to say that Senator Johnson voted to defend access to affordable birth control. Please take a moment to thank Senator Johnson for voting to protect women’s health and ask them to keep up the fight.

Statement of Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, on the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Decision to Reinstate Funding for Breast Cancer Screenings at Planned Parenthood Health Centers Nationwide

The outpouring of support for women in need of lifesaving breast cancer screening this week has been astonishing and is a testament to our nation's compassion and sincerity.

This show of support underscores what a critical resource Planned Parenthood is in the fight to detect and prevent breast cancer.  We were so heartened by the calls and emails we received from people in our region, who made it clear that they did not like to see politics playing a role in women’s health care. 

Planned Parenthood Statement on Komen Foundation Succumbing to Political Pressure and Ending Breast Cancer Prevention Funding

Planned Parenthood today expressed deep disappointment in response to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation’s decision to stop funding breast cancer prevention, screenings, and education at Planned Parenthood health centers. Anti-women’s health groups have repeatedly targeted and boycotted the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation for partnering with Planned Parenthood to provide these lifesaving cancer screenings and news articles suggest that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation ultimately succumbed to these pressures.

“As a health care provider to more than 60,000 women in our community, Planned Parenthood is trusted a leader in helping women identify breast cancer early. Women are deeply alarmed that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure from a vocal minority”, said Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS). “For years, opponents of women’s health have waged an aggressive pressure campaign aimed at the Susan G. Komen Foundation at the expense of women’s health and lives.”

Planned Parenthood Recognizes National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month By Urging Women to Get Regular Checkups

Making New Year’s resolutions? As part of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) is urging women in South Dakota to put preventive checkups, including cervical cancer screenings, at the top of their lists. 

Every year, approximately 13,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and about 4,000 American women die of the disease. 

Planned Parenthood Statement on FDA Decision to Maintain Current Age Restrictions for Emergency Contraception

We are disappointed that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has chosen to maintain the current age restriction on emergency contraception, as the decision has no medical basis and goes against the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recommendation. Multiple studies have shown that use of emergency contraception by young women under the age of 17 is safe and effective, and that teens are no more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior when they have unrestricted access to emergency contraception.

“Young women and teens can still rely on Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) to be here for them when they are seeking preventive health services,” said Sarah Stoesz, PPMNS President and CEO. “PPMNS offers emergency contraception to those who need it at an affordable price.”

Planned Parenthood Statement on Decision by Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals To Rehear South Dakota Biased Counseling Law

Today the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals announced they will hold an en banc hearing on South Dakota’s “informed consent” law that requires a doctor to tell a woman who is seeking an abortion that she faces an “increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide.” This comes after a three judge panel of the court struck down this requirement in September, finding there is no reliable medical evidence for a link between abortion and an increase in mental health problems.

“The scientific research is on our side,” said Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS). “We are confident that the en banc court, after reviewing the merits of this issue, will uphold two prior decisions which held that the weight of reliable evidence says abortion does not subject women to an increased risk of suicide.”

Statement of Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, on Politically Motivated Attack Against Planned Parenthood Affiliates Nationwide

September 27th, 2011 – “We are outraged that U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is putting politics before women’s health with a politically motivated Congressional investigation of Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide. This attack is intended to undermine Planned Parenthood’s ability to provide essential health care services to the women, men and teens who rely on them. 

Across the nation, unemployment and poverty rates are rising and homes are in foreclosure. Instead of attending to the most pressing needs of families and working to create jobs, this congressional committee is using tax-payer dollars to target a non-profit health care provider whose mission is to serve the most vulnerable in this economy.   

Planned Parenthood is a trusted health care provider that provides professional, reliable and quality health care across the state. For over 20 years, South Dakota’s families have relied on Planned Parenthood for primary and preventive care such as annual exams, birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV. 

As a trusted health care provider, Planned Parenthood routinely works with government regulators, nonprofit foundation donors, and independent auditors to ensure compliance with all rules and regulations regarding any funding it receives. In the rare instance when an irregularity is discovered, it is taken seriously and handled swiftly and appropriately.

Last year, Planned Parenthood provided basic health care to nearly 64,000 women, men and teens in the region, the vast majority of whom live at or below the federal poverty level and are without health insurance. Politically motivated attacks such as these will only increase the burden for those who can least afford it.”

CONTACT: Jen Aulwes
651.755.9557

Obama’s Job Plan and Women’s Health

Last week, President Obama spoke to the Joint Session and to the American people and shared his plan for spurring job growth in the U.S. What does this have to do with women’s health? CEO and President of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS), Sarah Stoesz, explains:
 

“PPMNS’ health clinics are seeing firsthand the costs of today’s economic challenges. Many of our patients are seeking out Planned Parenthood for affordable, essential health services because they simply have nowhere else to turn after being laid off, losing insurance, or failing to find jobs with benefits.

“Women are coming in for critical preventive services, such as breast exams, birth control and Pap tests that cannot be put off, even if they don’t have insurance. “As a trusted provider who has seen one in five American women at some point in her life, we know that creating middle-class jobs will help increase access to health care.

“President Obama’s plan would mean that more women and families will have quality jobs with health insurance, and we hope that Congress will answer his call to act and get our economy moving again.”

Contact: Jen Aulwes, Director of Media Relations, 651.755.9557

Stay tuned for more. We will need your support to help this plan get passed and to make sure that women and families have access to good jobs and good health care.

-by Karina, Web Editor, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota

Planned Parenthood wins a major victory in battle against South Dakota abortion law

Planned Parenthood won a major victory today in its ongoing court battle against South Dakota’s so-called “informed consent” law, which seeks to compel doctors to deliver ideological and medically inaccurate statements to their patients.

The South Dakota law – H.B. 1166, which was enacted in 2005 and challenged in court by Planned Parenthood – requires a doctor to tell a woman who is seeking an abortion that she faces an “increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide.”

“As the major medical organizations have found, and as the court agreed today, the scientific and medical evidence shows that women who choose abortion are not at increased risk for mental health problems,” said Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. “This law just one of many reprehensible barriers that South Dakota lawmakers have attempted to place between women and their access to safe, legal, reproductive health care.” 

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals further clarified that a provision in the law that requires doctors to tell a woman that she has a relationship with the fetus and that relationship is legally protected simply requires doctors to explain “that the woman seeking abortion is legally and constitutionally protected against being forced to have an abortion.” 

“Planned Parenthood has always stood for the right of women to make these decisions, and we are gratified by this result,” said Sarah Stoesz. “South Dakota voters twice have said at the polls that they do not want politicians interfering with these decisions, and we will continue to honor and defend their wishes.”

CONTACT: Sarah T. Williams, 612-821-6183

 

A Breakthrough for Women’s Health: No Co-pays for Birth Control

In a historic move for women’s reproductive and preventive health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines Monday requiring health insurance companies to cover women’s preventive health services, including birth control. The rules take effect August 1, 2012.

“This is a tremendous step forward for women and families,” said Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO on Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. “Not since the Comstock Laws, which banned information about contraceptives, were overturned in 1965 has there been a more significant development regarding contraceptives and preventive women’s health.”

“In addition to the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive methods, the ruling also makes the following available without co-pays or cost sharing:

• annual well-woman preventive visit
• screening for cervical cancer/HPV
• counseling for sexually transmitted infections
• counseling and screening for HIV
• screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence
• breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling
• screening for gestational diabetes

In issuing its ruling, the Health Department adopted findings by the independent Institute of Medicine, which cited the need for the country to move from a reactive health-care system to one that fosters health and wellbeing.

“We know that these are cost-saving measures,” said Stoesz. “They help prevent unintended pregnancy, detect cancers early, help stop the spread of sexually transmitted infections and significantly increase access for those who are living paycheck to paycheck. The ruling makes sense financially, and is the compassionate and responsible thing to do.”

CONTACT: Sarah T. Williams, 612-821-6183