[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 148 (Thursday, September 29, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6273-S6274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 590--COMMEMORATING 100 YEARS OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES
PROVIDED BY PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Brown, Mrs.
Shaheen, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Franken, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs.
Boxer, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Booker, Mr. Schumer,
Ms. Warren, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Cantwell, and Mrs. Feinstein) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions:
S. Res. 590
Whereas on October 16, 1916, Margaret Sanger, her sister
Ethel Byrne, and their activist friend Fania Mindell opened
the first birth control health clinic in the United States in
Brooklyn, New York, a groundbreaking and revolutionary act
for women at that time;
Whereas their clinic was founded on the idea that women
should have the information and care they need to live
strong, healthy lives and fulfill their dreams;
Whereas Margaret Sanger in 1922 incorporated the American
Birth Control League and in 1923 opened the first legal birth
control center in the United States, the Birth Control
Clinical Research Bureau, two organizations that would later
merge to become Planned Parenthood Federation of America;
Whereas leading up to 1916, the two most common causes of
death for women of childbearing age in the United States were
tuberculosis and complications from pregnancy and childbirth;
Whereas over the past 100 years, gains in access to birth
control, safe and legal abortion, and other reproductive
health services have improved and transformed the lives of
women, men, and young people in the United States and around
the world;
Whereas for the past century, Planned Parenthood has helped
lead massive changes in women's health and civil rights and
has empowered millions of women, men, and young people
worldwide to make informed health decisions, transforming the
way they live, love, learn, and work;
Whereas Planned Parenthood has been at the forefront of
fights for social change, including when the executive
director of Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut
challenged a law preventing the distribution of birth
control, leading to the landmark 1964 Supreme Court ruling in
Griswold v. Connecticut, 379 U.S. 926, which finally allowed
married women across the country to have legal access to
birth control;
Whereas Planned Parenthood health care providers and staff
have played important roles in increasing access to safe and
legal abortion, and have successfully advocated for measures
that increase access to birth control, including the
Affordable Care Act requirement that private insurance plans
provide coverage for birth control with no-out-of-pocket
costs;
Whereas many leaders, including those in the domestic and
global reproductive health, rights, and justice communities,
have worked alongside Planned Parenthood in accomplishing
these achievements;
Whereas breakthroughs in women's health care, such as the
legalization and expanded availability of birth control, have
been named one of the biggest economic advancements for women
in the past 100 years;
Whereas changes in women's access to reproductive health
care have led to cultural shifts: in the United States, women
are now nearly half the workforce, the sole or primary
breadwinners in 40 percent of homes, and more than half of
the college students;
Whereas from the single Brooklyn clinic in 1916, Planned
Parenthood has grown to approximately 650 clinics across the
United States, with partners in a dozen countries in Africa
and Latin America;
Whereas today Planned Parenthood proudly provides high-
quality, affordable health care, with 90 percent of services
provided being preventive health care for women, men, and
young people;
Whereas Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of sex
education in the United States;
Whereas an estimated 1 in 5 women in the United States have
been to a Planned Parenthood clinic for care at some point in
their lives, and, for many people, a Planned Parenthood
clinic may be the only place they can turn to for health
care;
Whereas in a single year, Planned Parenthood clinics
provide sexual and reproductive health care, education,
information, and outreach to 2,500,000 women, men, and
adolescents in the United States and almost 2,000,000 women,
men, and young people globally through its global programs
and partnerships, and over 72,000,000 people visit Planned
Parenthood's website;
Whereas in the past 10 years, Planned Parenthood has nearly
doubled services for male patients and expanded services for
LGBTQ communities; and
Whereas Planned Parenthood's commitment to offer care and
resources has grown over the past century and is stronger
than ever as it enters into its second century: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) supports the wide-ranging preventive services that
Planned Parenthood Federation of America doctors, nurses, and
staff provide every day to patients across the United States;
(2) recognizes that Planned Parenthood is a safety-net
provider that reaches medically underserved people who are
critically in need of compassionate care;
(3) declares that Planned Parenthood should not be
defunded, attacked, or discriminated against for their role
as a vital women's health care provider across the country;
and
(4) affirms that Planned Parenthood remains an essential
thread in the fabric of society, and it will be key in the
next century to assisting millions of women, men, and young
people in accessing the health care they need and deserve, no
matter who they are or where they live.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, Congress has just passed a funding measure
that will prevent a shutdown at the end of this week. As headlines
across the country noted as the debate over this bill played out, it
was delayed partly due to partisan attacks against women's health and
one provider in particular--Planned Parenthood--that were shoehorned
into the debate once again.
Colleagues, this year Planned Parenthood turns 100 years old. You
cannot look at the last 100 years and deny that monumental progress has
been made with respect to women's health and rights--thanks to strong
allies like Planned Parenthood. But that progress is what some members
of this body want to roll back.
When the first Planned Parenthood opened in 1916, it was illegal for
women to get information about how to prevent a pregnancy. It is not
surprising that at the time, one of the leading causes of death for
women in the United States was complications from pregnancy and
childbirth.
From the get-go, Planned Parenthood said that women in America have a
fundamental right to information about their reproductive health and
access to care. It was about the right of all women to a healthy life
and the pursuit of happiness.
In 1965, Planned Parenthood Connecticut fought and won the Supreme
Court decision that made birth control legal for married women.
In 2010, Planned Parenthood was at the front lines of the battle,
along with a lot of us here in the Senate, to ensure that birth control
would be covered under the Affordable Care Act.
Today, an estimated one in five women in America has been to a
Planned Parenthood clinic for care at some point in her life. Eight out
of ten Planned Parenthood patients live in or near poverty. As tough as
it is for them to make ends meet, Planned Parenthood is a place they
can turn to for important medical care from a provider they trust.
Planned Parenthood at 100 years old has racked up some impressive
points on the scoreboard. Each year Planned Parenthood provides
educational programs to 1.5 million people. Planned Parenthood has
doubled the number of health services it provides to men and has led
the way in expanding access to health care for LGBT Americans. It has
more than 650 health centers across the country and served two and a
half million women and men last year.
In my home State of Oregon, more than 70,000 Oregonians are served by
11 Planned Parenthood centers. I know firsthand from visiting with
Planned Parenthood officials throughout Oregon in Portland, in Lane
County, in central Oregon, how important these centers are to the
health care of Oregonians.
Planned Parenthood is at the heart of the revolution in women's
health care over the last 100 years. It is the first place millions of
American women turn to for health care--women from Portland, OR, to
Portland, ME.
Here are some of the services Planned Parenthood provides: birth
control and counseling; pregnancy tests; prenatal services; HIV tests;
safe, legal abortion services; breast cancer screenings; HPV
vaccinations; cervical cancer screenings and prevention; ovarian cancer
screenings; PAP tests;
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exams for sexually transmitted diseases; treatment for urinary tract
infections; basic physical exams; adoption referrals; family practice
services; and nutrition programs.
Despite all these critical services Planned Parenthood provides,
every day, legislators attack Planned Parenthood.
The fact is this crusade against Planned Parenthood is a crusade
against the fundamental and constitutionally-protected right of women
to make their own decisions about their bodies.
Time and time again on the Senate floor and in debates with the other
side, my Democratic colleagues and I have had to beat back the attempts
to defund Planned Parenthood.
Here is my bottom line colleagues. This country has made 100 years of
progress on women's health, and it's not going to move backward.
I urge my colleagues to honor the commitment to women's health and
rights that Planned Parenthood has shown in the last 100 years by
working in a bipartisan way to improve access to women's health care,
instead of limiting it.
Let us allow more women and men to access the health care they need
and deserve, no matter who they are or where they live. Let us work to
uphold the fundamental right of all women to make their own
reproductive choices and access quality health care. Let us continue
funding for Planned Parenthood and end these partisan attacks against
this bedrock American health provider.
Today, I am joined by 17 of my colleagues in introducing a resolution
to formally recognize Planned Parenthood's immense contributions to
progress for women's health and quality of life in America. It is time
to end the unfounded attacks against Planned Parenthood and allow it to
continue to provide critical health services for the next 100 years.
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