Planned Parenthood of Columbia-Willamette serves 60,000 women, men and teens each year in centers located throughout Oregon and SW Washington. It is the largest planning and reproductive rights organization in the region, providing a broad range of sexual and reproductive health care, family planning and myriad other medical services, including education and cancer screenings.
In charge of all of these programs is President and CEO Dr. David Greenberg — a quiet and soft-spoken advocate who has a long history of working for women’s rights and navigating complex systems surrounding reproductive rights. Greenberg has been with the local chapter of Planned Parenthood since 2001. He knows all too well that Planned Parenthood has been under attack for decades in this country, and that the latest round of legislation aimed at destroying the heart of the organization is just another obstacle in the long journey to maintain the rights of women, men and teens seeking professional medical services.
Street Roots spoke with Greenberg about the recent legislative attacks, and the politics that surround the services Planned Parenthood provides.
Israel Bayer: There are a lot of misconceptions out there around what Planned Parenthood actually offers to individuals and families. Can you talk a little bit about the services Planned Parenthood offers to people, specifically for low-income folks?
David Greenberg: Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette (PPCW) provides more than 60,000 women, men and teens with access to basic, preventive sexual and reproductive health care every year.
Ninety-five percent of the services we provide are preventive service — birth control and family planning, gynecological exams and Pap tests, screenings for breast and cervical cancer, and the testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Less than five percent are for abortion services. PPCW offers permanent birth control options at our health centers — vasectomy for men, and Adiana for women. We also offer colposcopy and LEEP procedures (to test for and prevent cervical cancer).
The vast majority, 92 percent, of PPCW’s patients are low-income. More than 75 percent of our patients rely on some kind of federal funding to pay for their reproductive health care services at Planned Parenthood. For many of our patients, Planned Parenthood is the only health care provider they see every year. Without Planned Parenthood, many would have nowhere else to go.
I.B.: The Republican Party appears to be on the warpath, using the guise of deficit reduction to strip not only Planned Parenthood’s funding, but also groups like AmeriCorps and public broadcasting. How is Planned Parenthood responding to these attacks?
D.G.: In attacking Planned Parenthood, the House Republican leadership has launched an outrageous assault on the millions of Americans who rely on Planned Parenthood for primary and preventive health care.
Planned Parenthood supporters are standing up and letting their elected officials know how important Planned Parenthood is to them, and how crucial our services are to the communities we serve. We are asking our supporters to make sure their voices are heard, and to ensure that elected officials know how much support Planned Parenthood has across the nation. More than half a million supporters have signed our online petition, thousands of postcards, letters, and emails have been sent, and rallies have been coordinated across the country.
The amendment to cut Planned Parenthood off from federal funding does nothing to reduce the deficit; it does nothing to improve the economy. In fact, health professionals will actually lose their jobs as a result, and, most egregiously, it takes health care away from American women who cannot afford to pay for it on their own.
Financially, using the guise of deficit reduction to justify these cuts is ridiculous. Title X services are incredibly effective, helping to prevent nearly one million unintended pregnancies each year, almost half of which would otherwise end in abortion. For every public dollar invested in family planning, $3.74 is saved in Medicaid-related costs. That’s savings to both federal and state governments. Taking family planning services away from women will actually increase the deficit.
I.B.: Last year, Street Roots exposed a network of right-wing activists who have been successful at prompting a Catholic foundation to defund community organizations (including SR) for even appearing to work with groups such as Planned Parenthood. It feels like the latest House vote to defund Planned Parenthood is a culmination of these different groups, including a growing Tea Party movement. In your opinion, how can we combat these growing movements that cross issues, including women’s rights, poverty, labor?
D.G.: The effort to defund Planned Parenthood and eliminate family planning funding isn’t new. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) has introduced similar resolutions to defund before, but what is new is the fact that most of the U.S. House of Representatives are now anti-women and anti-choice.
One of the most important things people can do is stand up and make their voices heard. Talk to friends, family, coworkers and community members about why Planned Parenthood, family planning, and women’s rights are important to you. One in five women in the United States has used Planned Parenthood’s services, and they know the vital part we play in improving the health and lives of women and families. It’s important that people talk about why they support these issues and why they are important to our community. We can’t sit quietly and assume that politicians will do the right thing, or that our issues will be a priority.
I.B.: Hearing you speak this year at an event, you told a story about two individuals in your lobby that had impacted you personally, and was a testament to the work Planned Parenthood does. Can you tell that story for us?
D.G.: One morning last year I noticed a young couple standing in our new Regional Service Center’s parking lot. They were looking at each other and holding hands. They seemed to be having a very serious conversation. A short time later I saw them sitting on a bench; he had his arm around her, and her head was on his shoulder.
I noticed them throughout the day. They held each other; they embraced; they walked out of our building and later returned to sit in the lobby. It seemed as though they were trying to make a difficult decision together and had found a safe place to be together.
Late in the afternoon they left. I don’t know exactly why they had come to Planned Parenthood nor do I know what they decided.
Planned Parenthood helps people make the choices that are right for them, and I felt proud that we could offer this couple whatever professional help they needed and a place where they felt comfortable.
I.B.: Now that the House vote has passed to defund Planned Parenthood, what are the next steps?
D.G.: Next week, the Senate will have the opportunity to restore funding for Planned Parenthood. We do have a narrow margin of support in the Senate and we will continue to shore up the votes needed to continue to be able to provide health care for all those who need it.
I.B.: Where do Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden, and Jeff Merkley stand on the issue?
D.G.: Senator Merkley and Senator Wyden have demonstrated their commitment to protecting women’s health over the last few decades. Our request is that our senators stand up as champions for Planned Parenthood to ensure that we can continue to provide affordable, quality health care to women in our state.
I.B.: What would happen locally if federal funding ceases to exist for Planned Parenthood?
D.G.: Cutting funding for both Title X and Planned Parenthood would be devastating for women and families. Without the services provided by Title X funding, the level of abortion in Oregon would be 51 percent higher. Also, without these vital services the level of teen pregnancy in Oregon would be 55 percent higher. By helping women avoid unintended pregnancies and the births that would follow, the services provided at centers in Oregon, like Planned Parenthood, saved $18,199,000 in public funds in 2008.
We don’t know exactly what this would mean for Planned Parenthood’s ability to serve women and families in Oregon and SW Washington. In Oregon, over 2,000 women come to a Planned Parenthood health center every week, and each year thousands of teens receive comprehensive sex education through our programs. Since Federal support helps pay for over three quarters of these programs, eliminating all funding would be devastating for those for whom we are their only health care provider.
I.B.: Anything else you would like to add?
D.G.: We are doing everything in our power to reverse the U.S. House of Representatives’ decision to defund family planning and Planned Parenthood because the health of America’s families depends on making affordable health care available.
For 95 years, Planned Parenthood has provided medical care and family planning services to women across the country. One in five American women has received care from a Planned Parenthood health center during her lifetime, and last year three million patients came to one of our more than 800 health centers. We are trusted by millions of women and families, and we deliver care to those who need it most.
This policy of attempting to undermine Planned Parenthood, the organization in the United States that does more than any other to encourage the use of contraception for those wanting to avoid pregnancy, certainly guarantees an increase in the number of unintended pregnancies. It is difficult to understand why people who say they are opposed to abortion would do so much to undermine the family planning and contraception that helps prevent the need for it.
To be clear, the amendment to prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding does nothing to reduce the deficit and it does nothing to improve the economy. In fact, health professionals will actually lose their jobs as a result, and, most egregiously, it takes health care away from American women who cannot afford to pay for it on their own.