Planned Parenthood Advocate

Anti-choicers gather at our future building site

We knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, but now it’s official. The protests have begun at the future site of our health care center and HQ in St. Paul.

Yesterday, about 35 anti-choicers gathered in front of our future building site to protest our new location and the critical health care we provide to Minnesotans. In the video below, you will see the anti-choicers gathered on the very edge of our property line—the building you see in the background is currently on our site. Before construction on the new building can begin, the existing building must be demolished and the site must go through soil remediation.

Click here to read more and to watch the video.

 

This is why a pro-choice Governors matters

by Karina
Web Editor
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

Monday night the Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action fund held a fundraiser to help elect a pro-choice Governor here in Minnesota.  The event featured three incredible pro-choice advocates: Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul, Speaker of the House and Planned Parenthood Endorsed Gubernatorial Candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher, and the fiercely pro-choice Governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle.
 
If you missed the event, you can still make a contribution to our effort to elect Margaret as pro-choice Governor of Minnesota.

Chris Coleman started out the evening giving a little insight into our new building in St. Paul, joking that the only kind of battles that Planned Parenthood faces with this building is whether or not to have a green roof or what kind of stone we’ll be using.  “These are the kinds of battles that we fight when we’re talking about women’s health in the city of St. Paul” said Mayor Coleman, as the crowd laughed approvingly. We are so grateful to Mayor Coleman for his strong support for Planned Parenthood and for improved access to care for the citizens of St. Paul and beyond.
 
Next, our Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsed candidate for Governor, Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher shared a personal story about why Planned Parenthood’s services are so important.
 

 
Finally, Governor Doyle, Wisconsin’s pro-choice Governor gave a wonderful speech, perfectly illustrating why having a pro-choice Governor truly matters. Governor Doyle has been a strong advocate for pro-choice issues and has aggressively sought a pro-choice agenda, recently signing a comprehensive sex ed bill into law. Minnesota has sought similar legislation for a long time, but Governor Pawlenty has made it clear that arming Minnesotas teens with the information they need to keep themselves healthy is not a priority.  Check out a portion of the Governor’s speech highlighting some of his accomplishments and illustrating the importance of the role of the Governor.

 
Thank you so much to Governor Doyle for joining us in Minneapolis on Monday night!  We look forward to the day when Minnesota elects its very own pro-choice Governor.  
 
Help us get our endorsed candidate, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, elected!  Make a contribution to elect a pro-choice Governor in Minnesota!

 

California cuts teen pregnancy rate in half; Can we do the same in MN?

 

by Karina

Web Editor
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

As if we needed any more proof that a comprehensive, responsible sex ed is needed to reduce the teen pregnancy rate, along comes more analysis that reinforces what we know: comprehensive sex ed works.  Between 1992 and 2005, California’s teen pregnancy rate declined by more than 50%. How did they do it?

“California has made teen pregnancy prevention a high public policy priority, with a strong emphasis on providing teens comprehensive sex education and the health care services and counseling they need to prevent pregnancy,” says Heather Boonstra, author of the new analysis. “Above all, California’s success demonstrates that policies matter—both in allotting the necessary resources and in ensuring that the right types of information and services are available.” 

Along with improving access to contraception, bipartisan commitment to the issue, and input and involvement of private foundations, Boonstra credits comprehensive sexuality education as one of the core factors for California’s success.  California is the only state to not accept any federal abstinence-only funds and shifted its resources to evidence-based, medically-accurate, age-appropriate comprehensive sex ed programs.  “The whole of the effort clearly added up to more than the sum of the parts,” Boonstra said.

In 2007 over 7,000 Minnesota teens between ages 15-19 became pregnant along with 120 females under the age of 15. While Minnesota’s teen pregnancy rate is one of the lowest in the nation, these stats are still troubling. Every day in Minnesota, about 20 teens become pregnant.

89% of Minnesota parents support comprehensive sex ed yet Minnesota does not have any sex ed policy on the books, though it’s not for lack of trying.  In past years, Governor Pawlenty has made it clear that he would not support a comprehensive approach to sex education.  If Minnesota wants to replicate California’s model for success, we have a long way to go. Perhaps next year we will elect a pro-choice Governor who supports comprehensive sex ed, and would sign this common-sense approach to reducing teen pregnancy.  Doing so would be a major step forward for the health and lives of Minnesota teens. Help us make it happen.

Why the Central Corridor?

by Karina

Web Editor
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

Earlier this month, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota announced that we would be building a new flagship health care center and administrative headquarters along the Central Corridor in the Midway area of St. Paul.

The Central Corridor is an 11 mile light rail track line that connects 5 major neighborhoods of the Twin Cities: Downtown Minneapolis, the U of M, the Midway area (our future home), the Capitol, and Downtown St. Paul. The new transit line will include 18 new stops and share 5 additional stops with the Hiawatha line and is slated to be completed by 2014.   Creating this link between the two downtowns has been a long time coming, and PPMNS is so excited to be located just a block off the new line near the Raymond Avenue stop.

Click here to read more. 

Do You Stand With PP?

by Karina

Web Editor
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

It’s been a week since our new building announcement and people from all over Minnesota have been visiting our website and sharing why they support Planned Parenthood.

Here are some of my favs so far:

“Planned Parenthood is always there. They are always on your side, always ready with absolute truth, compassion, and respect. Always.” --Sara M

“As a teenager (18) I believe that comprehensive sexual education and smart access to contraception will best keep my ge

“They are a vital organization to communities across the state providing reproductive health services and education for all.” --Molly M

“Planned Parenthood provides countless women with control over their lives. It helps them build strong, supported families.” -- Carol S.

“Sexual health and education is important. Plain and simple.” Brian L.

“Women and men must always have access to safe, cost effective health care. PP has been providing this for decades and is a model to follow!” --Sarah S.

As you have read in my last post, there are some people who don’t support the important work Planned Parenthood does. However, there are PLENTY of people who do stand with PP and it’s so amazing to see the outpouring of community support for the critical health care we’ve been providing to Minnesotans since 1928.

Do you support Planned Parenthood? Show your support for PP here. After you submit your thoughts, be sure to stick around and check out the messages that other people are leaving. It’s very inspiring.

Thank you so much for your support!