Des Moines Register Examines Planned Parenthood Of Greater Iowa 75 Years After Founding

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Abortion
Article Date: 28 May 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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The Des Moines Register on Friday profiled Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, which marks its 75th anniversary this year. Established in 1934 as the Iowa Maternal Health League, PPGI now includes 17 clinics offering a range of reproductive health services, as well as an education and resource center. The organization originally was founded by four women with a mission of providing birth control for low-income married women. Over the years, it frequently "has been on the forefront of advances in reproductive history," according to the Register. For example, in the early 1960s, PPGI became the first provider in the Midwest to offer the oral contraceptive Ortho-Novum, leading to a more than 350% increase in its number of patients.

Although antiabortion-rights advocates often discuss Planned Parenthood in relation to abortion services, the vast majority of its services are not abortion-related. Jill June, president and CEO of PPGI, said that although the organization's services have greatly expanded since its founding, the "needs people have for the services we provide and the challenges we face in meeting those needs haven't changed." She added, "People still face unintended pregnancies despite great technological advances in birth control and efforts to make contraception more available and to normalize contraception use" (Challender, Des Moines Register, 5/22).

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