SUPPORTERS IN CONNECTICUT HIGHLIGHTED ESSENTIAL ROLE PLANNED PARENTHOOD PLAYS IN COMMUNITY AS PART OF NATIONAL “PINK OUT DAY” EVENT

For Immediate Release: May 13, 2016

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Supporters #PinkOut in solidarity for the women and families across Connecticut who rely on Planned Parenthood for vital health care services.

(New Haven, Conn.) – After weeks of political attacks against Planned Parenthood and the basic reproductive health care it provides, patients, supporters and activists in Connecticut fought back, in pink.

 

As extremist politicians in Washington continued their attack on women’s health, seeking to block Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds, women and families across Connecticut gathered on Tuesday, September 29, to show they stand with Planned Parenthood and the critical health care it provides to millions of women across the country every year.

 

“Today we came together as a community to stand up for women and families across Connecticut who rely on Planned Parenthood for essential, preventive reproductive health care, like birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment and well-woman exams,” said Judy Tabar President & CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. “These continued attacks by extremist politicians on women’s health are part of a dangerous agenda to roll back access to reproductive health care and ban abortion leaving millions of patients across the country devastated by stripping them of the basic health care they need. Women and men in Connecticut are lifting up their voices and their stories to let Congress know they stand with Planned Parenthood.”

 

Today was part of a national “Pink Out Day,” where thousands of volunteers held more than 250 events across the country, including sex-ed teach ins, rallies, and free STD testing, to demonstrate the essential role Planned Parenthood plays in the community. Pink Out Day comes in response to efforts by some politicians in Congress to strip Planned Parenthood of critical federal funding, leaving women without access to health care options when they need them most.

 

During Pink Out Day, more than 200 supporters and activists – including New Haven Mayor Toni Harp – gathered on the New Haven Green, as well as on college campuses across the state, including Connecticut College, Eastern Connecticut State University and Wesleyan University. These events highlighted the voices and stories of those most affected by defunding Planned Parenthood – the millions of women, men and young people across the country and in Connecticut who rely on Planned Parenthood’s nonprofit health centers for care.

 

Nationally, Planned Parenthood provides 2.7 million women, men and young people a year with critical health care. More than half of Planned Parenthood health centers are in rural or medically underserved areas.

Planned Parenthood is the most trusted women’s health care provider in the country. Every year, millions of patients turn to Planned Parenthood for basic, high-quality, preventive care. Planned Parenthood has provided birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, safe abortion, and other high-quality health care for 99 years. One in five American women reports having been to Planned Parenthood for care in her lifetime.

Extraordinarily strong support runs deeps for Planned Parenthood. Six separate national polls have shown strong favorability for Planned Parenthood and strong opposition to efforts in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood services, which would prevent many low-income women from receiving health care.

To learn more about PPSNE health care services, call (203) 865-5158 or visit ppsne.org.

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Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE) is one of the region’s largest providers of family planning and reproductive health care services. Since 1923, PPSNE has evolved into an organization with 18 health centers in Connecticut and Rhode Island, delivering care to nearly 70,000 patients annually, and 90 percent of the services provided are preventive.