Tag: Planned Parenthood

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Groups Challenge Order to Postpone Elective Medical Procedures, Abortions


The Center for Reproductive Rights, along with two other organizations, is challenging an order by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee that essentially bans abortion procedures in the state.

Last week, in an executive order responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee moved to limit “non-emergency healthcare procedures” until at least the end of the month. The order does not specifically cite abortion services, but instead reads in part, “All healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities in the state of Tennessee shall postpone surgical and invasive procedures that are elective and non-urgent.”

According to the order, these procedures include those that can be delayed because they do not “provide life-sustaining treatment, to prevent death or risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function, or to prevent rapid deterioration or serious adverse consequences to a patient’s physical condition.” Read the full order below.

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Patients who are less than 11 weeks pregnant will still be permitted to obtain medication abortions in the state.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the ACLU of Tennessee filed an emergency lawsuit Tuesday to challenge the order.

The lawsuit argues that the governor’s order effectively bans abortion in the sate, violating Roe v. Wade, as well as a women’s right to liberty and autonomy under the Fourteenth Amendment.

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Additionally, the lawsuit argues that forcing women to travel out of state for abortion care or to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term, will increase the risks of COVID-19 spread.

Hedy Weinberg, director of the ACLU of Tennessee, said the actions of the state government “must be driven by science and public health, not politics.”

“The COVID-19 crisis cannot be used to prevent women from obtaining abortions,” Weinberg said. “Abortion is time sensitive and essential, and is not an elective procedure. You cannot just press pause on a pregnancy. During pandemic, women must still have access to a full spectrum of reproductive health care, including abortion, to protect their health.”

Ashley Coffield, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, said “abortion cannot wait.”

Unlike some medical procedures, delays can make it impossible for patients to access safe and legal abortions, she said. Coffield also adds that this order will “undoubtedly disproportionately” impact vulnerable communities, such as communities of color, young people, those with low incomes, and the LGBTQ community.

“These folks are making difficult decisions about how to pay bills and care for their families during a pandemic — they should not be forced to continue a pregnancy against their will, too,” Coffield.

Rebecca Terrell, executive of CHOICES Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, said that abortion is time sensitive: “Our patients cannot wait until this pandemic is over. They are panicking and many have no idea when or if they’ll be able to have an abortion. Patients are now being forced to travel out of state, which will only harm efforts to contain the spread of the virus. There is no sense in denying them abortion care here in their own communities.”

Read the full complaint below. 


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Tennessee Lawmakers Plan Hearings on Six-Week Abortion Ban Next Week

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

Ashley Coffield speaks at a Thursday press conference

State lawmakers are slated to hold hearings next week on legislation that would ban abortions at six weeks in Tennessee.

Last spring, the Tennessee General Assembly came close to passing similar legislation — the Heartbeat Bill, which would have blocked abortions after a heartbeat is detected — but it stalled in the Senate.

Facebook/Mark Pody

Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon)

Now, Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon), one of the co-sponsors of last year’s bill is pushing to bring back the Heartbeat Bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a two-day hearing on Monday and Tuesday of next week to discuss the legislation.

Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi (PPTNM), said at a Thursday press conference that the six-week ban is “unpopular, dangerous for Tennessee women, and it’s unconstitutional.” Coffield said PPTNM is urging the Senate committee to drop the legislation, as abortion is a “critical component of women’s reproductive health care.”

“A six-week abortion ban goes too far, inserting government in personal private lives,” Coffield said. “The bill is intended to ban all abortion in our state. It’s important that abortion remain a safe and legal option for women to consider when and if she needs it.”

Banning abortions threatens the “autonomy and individual freedom of people in Tennessee,” Coffield added.

“The truth is, banning abortion does not eliminate abortion,” Coffield said. “It just makes it less safe, and it puts pregnant women and their families at risk.”

She also noted that in other states that have passed six-week bans, including Kentucky, Mississippi, Iowa, North Dakota, and Ohio, the court has “easily blocked these bans,” on the basis that it is unconstitutional for states to prohibit a woman from choosing abortion before viability.

As set by Roe v. Wade, viability occurs in the 24th week of pregnancy.

“If passed in Tennessee, the six-week abortion ban will be challenged in court,” Coffield said. “Just like every other state that’s passed similar laws, we would be setting Tennessee up for an expensive lawsuit that wastes hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.”

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President of the Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT), David Fowler, helped draft the new version of the bill to be discussed next week.

On this week’s episode of the FACT Report, a one-minute commentary featured on conservative radio stations in the state, Fowler said under the precedent of Roe v. Wade the heartbeat bill is “clearly” unconstitutional. But, he said “Roe’s constitutional reasoning has been sharply criticized from the beginning by liberal and conservative lawyers.”

“Surprisingly, in 46 years, no state has passed a bill that directly attacks Roe’s foundations,” Fowler said. “For 46 years, the Court has not been forced to re-examine Roe’s reasoning.

“So, the real question these senators must answer is whether it’s time to stop cowering before the U.S. Supreme Court by attacking Roe in roundabout ways and pass a bill that forces the issue,”  Fowler continued. “Roe seems like a giant to overcome, but God has used His people to slay giants before. It’s time we take on the giant.”

Coffield said PPTNM is urging Tennesseans to come to the hearing in Nashville next week to “make their voices heard.”

“These hearings are the most important days of action this whole summer,” a post on PPTNM’s Facebook page reads. “It is imperative that we show our elected officials that Tennesseans do not support a ban on abortion. With your presence, we will make our voices heard.”

PPTNM is offering free travel to Nashville from Memphis by bus on Monday. Contact Tory at tmills@pptnm.org for details. For those who want to spend the night, the group is also assisting with lodging. Contact Julie at jedwards@pptnm.org for more information.

After the hearing on Tuesday, Coffield said there will be a “people’s hearing” to give the public a chance to voice their opinions. She said speakers will include physicians, attorneys, and women who’ve had abortions.

“It’ll really be centered around the experience of women who have had abortions,” Coffield said. “Those people will not be allowed to speak during the hearings. So those are the people we need to hear from.”

Read the full amended version of the legislation below.

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Pro-Choice Advocates Rally to ‘Stop the Ban’

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

About 40 people rallied near City Hall, Tuesday, against the recent abortion bans that have been passed in other states.

Chanting “Stop the ban,” participants held pink signs reading “Protect safe, legal abortions.”

Tuesday’s effort was spearheaded by the Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, in collaboration with Indivisible Memphis, Choices, and other pro-choice advocacy organizations.

Ashley Coffield, president of Planned Parenthood for the Greater Memphis Region said that 73 percent of Americans oppose banning abortion, and “we’re out here today to raise up their voices and tell the nation that we won’t stand for it.”

“In Tennessee we have Planned Parenthood and other organizations that offer abortion, and that’s a great thing,” Coffield said. “But we are under attack from our legislature right now. It’s worse than it’s ever been.”

Sixteen states passed legislation this year either placing greater restrictions on abortion or effectively banning the procedure completely.

Coffield said the Tennessee legislature was close to passing an outright abortion ban this year, but that measure failed in the state Senate. That legislation is slated to be discussed during the legislation’s summer session.

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Tennessee did, however, pass a law that would criminalize abortion in Tennessee if the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision is overturned. That law, the Human Life Protection Act, would ban abortions except “when an abortion is necessary to prevent death” or “substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function.”

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, the law would make it a felony offense for doctors to perform abortions. Under the law, women seeking abortions would not be prosecuted.      

“The fight is far from over in Tennessee,” Coffield said. “Our rights are at risk like they’ve never been before and this is a coordinated attack nationwide to get a case to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.”

Coffield said abortion is basic health care for women and making abortion illegal won’t stop abortions: “Abortion will just be unsafe and women will die.”

Currently, in Tennessee abortion is legal throughout the first 20 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy. However, the law places restrictions and regulations on clinics who offer abortion and women seeking the procedure, according to Holly Calvasina, director of development and communications for Choices.

One of those regulations is the 48-hour waiting period, Calvasina said. Women seeking an abortion must a woman to see a physician on two different occasions. According to the law, this is to ”reduce coerced abortions and to allow time to carefully consider the information and resources provided by informed consent provisions.”

Calvasina said this makes abortions more expensive, because women must pay for two doctor’s visits.

Diane Duke, executive director of Friends for Life, was also at the rally. She said that abortion is a woman’s right.

“Women are able to make their own decision about the timing and the size of their families,” Duke said. “We are women. We are the ultimate authority and definitive authority of our own body. We know if abortions are illegal, women will die.”

Duke also noted that “because of white privilege, our brown and black sisters will disproportionately bear the burden of an abortion ban.”

“This will further reinforce the institutional racism that is so predominant here in the South,” Duke said.

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Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, who sits on the Planned Parenthood board here, was also at the rally, speaking against abortion bans.


“It was more important for me to be here with you on the ground to say ‘this won’t fly for us’” Sawyer said. “I know personally what it means to be able to make decisions about your body. No one should be able to tell anyone what they can do what their life and their future.

“When we are talking about stopping the ban, it is important that we show up in Memphis because if you don’t think Tennessee is next, you’re sleeping.”

Tuesday’s rally here was one of more than 400 happening across the country, urging for an end to abortion bans.


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State Abortion Bill Called ‘Extreme Legislation’

A bill filed in the state legislature would prohibit an abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected and would require fetal heartbeat testing before an abortion, a move Planned Parenthood said that would “make safe abortions illegal in Tennessee.” 

Van Huss

The bill was filed last week by Rep. Micah Van Huss (R- Jonesborough). The bill has 24 co-sponsors in the House. However, no companion bill has yet been filed in the Senate.

Van Huss filed similar legislation before, according to Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi and Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood. The groups said in a statement Wednesday that the legislation filed previously “was not supported from Tennessee Right to Life and the state attorney general due to constitutional concerns.” They called it “extreme legislation.”

“North Dakota and Arkansas both passed similar abortion bans and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending their laws in court, only to have the laws struck down or permanently blocked as unconstitutional,” the groups said.

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The Abortion Divide, Again

During Monday’s regular meeting of the Shelby County Commission, a dispute on continuing Planned Parenthood’s involvement in a local, state-funded HIV-prevention program was resolved — sort of — in a fashion that reveals the political fault lines not only of Shelby County but, to some extent, of the state and nation as well.

Van Turner

After a considerable amount of testimony, both pro and con, from an audience that seemingly filled the first-floor auditorium of the Vasco A. Smith Jr. County Administration Building to capacity, the commission finally approved a grant of $115,000 — the first of five scheduled annual ones — to support the renewal of a condom-distribution  program overseen by Planned Parenthood. Three other local agencies had previously been authorized without incident for equivalent shares of a total grant package of $407,000.

Amid warnings from both the Tennessee Department of Health and the county administration that failure to do so might endanger the entire package, the commission approved the Planned Parenthood grant, seven to five, with the vote being a clean split along political lines — the commission’s seven Democrats voting in favor, and the body’s six Republicans demurring, five voting no and one, Commissioner Mark Billingsley, recusing himself on grounds of his professional association with Le Bonheur Community Health and Well-Being, one of the three organizations whose HIV grants had already been endorsed by the commission. The ot

Heidi Shafer

her two were Friends for Life Corp. and Partnership to End AIDS Status.

For the record, voting aye were Van Turner (a Planned Parenthood board member who termed support for Planned Parenthood “a matter of life and death”),Walter Bailey, Reginald Milton, Eddie Jones, Willie Brooks, Justin Ford, and chairman Melvin Burgess — all Democrats (and all African Americans, as are, as was pointedly noted during the debate, a majority of the county’s HIV cases). 

Voting no were Republicans Heidi Shafer, Terry Roland, David Reaves, George Chism, and Steve Basar.

The difference between Planned Parenthood’s treatment and that of the other three state-designated grant recipients clearly had to do with Planned Parenthood’s long-term status as an abortion provider, although the agency’s opponents on the commission tended to couch their opposition — for tactical reasons, it would seem — on their stated belief that the county Health Department could better carry out the services required by the grant.

Planned Parenthood has frequently been the subject of controversy in commission votes over the years — notably in 2011, when a commission majority narrowly supported a recommendation by Republican Mayor Mark Luttrell that Christ Community Health Centers supplant Planned Parenthood, which had been the traditional recipient of new federal Title X funds to administer a variety of women’s medical services. 

Abortion had been the elephant in the room for that debate, too, though proponents of the change over stressed such other points as the greater number of physical venues available through Christ Community Health Centers. In the final reckoning, CCHC’s religious orientation may also have attracted enough Democratic votes to join with Republicans in determining the outcome.

It was no secret then, however, and is no secret now that governmental defunding of Planned Parenthood programs at local, state, and federal levels is essentially a Republican goal, with Democrats tending to support the agency, and differing attitudes toward abortion determining the divide. Over the years, that fact of political life has been as crucial as economic factors in determining the two parties’ working coalitions.

Though Luttrell’s administration had matter-of-factly included Planned Parenthood as a recipient back in December, when the grants were first announced publicly and the controversy was ignited, the mayor and county CAO Harvey Kennedy played a middle role of sorts in Monday’s debate.

Both argued stoutly that the county Health Department could perform HIV prevention services as well as, if not better than, Planned Parenthood. But both, significantly, urged caution in view of a letter from the state Department of Health advising that denial of Planned Parenthood for “extraneous,” (i.e., political) reasons might invite judicial intervention that could invalidate the totality of the $407,000 grant — a sum that all parties agreed was needed in view of mounting HIV and STD cases in Shelby County.

Monday’s debate was spirited among audience members, a majority favoring Planned Parenthood for stated reasons of public health, while a minority opposed the grant, some boosting the Health Department, while others spoke to the formally unspoken issue: abortion.

Some of the latter were graphic in the extreme, with one opponent contending that Planned Parenthood was “founded by racists … and killed more than the Nazis and KKK combined.” Another, Don Ware, who frequently testifies at public meetings on behalf of conservative causes, drew jeers and dismissive laughter when he said that “the business of Planned Parenthood is legalized murder.”

There was an ironic moment, pointing up the varying secular and religious motives among disputants, when, after Ware contended that “God is opposed” to Planned Parenthood’s activities, a voice was heard from the audience counterpointing that with a sardonic “Oh, God!”

The Almighty, it would seem, kept His own counsel in the matter.

• Another matter on which local opinions are sharply divided surfaced anew last Thursday with the presentation in the City Hall conference room of a voluntary de-annexation proposal for Memphis by the Strategic Footprint Review Task Force.

The city/county group was appointed last year after a near-miss in the General Assembly of a far-reaching bill that would have authorized relatively easy and extensive ways for communities to detach themselves from the state’s major cities.

Details of the task force proposal are covered online in “Political Beat” on the Memphis Flyer website.

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Memphis Planned Parenthood Plans to Build New Health Center

Gloria Steinem at the PPGMR James Awards

Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region (PPGMR) plans to expand and enhance its patient services by building a second health center to complement its existing center on Poplar in Midtown, and it’s launched a massive fund-raising campaign to pay for it and other expanded services and education efforts. Those plans were announced on Thursday night at PPGMR’s 75th anniversary gala and James Award celebration at the Hilton Memphis.

The Now Campaign, which is intended to fund the local organization for at least the next 75 years, has a goal of $12 million, but so far, $10 million has already been raised. Of that, $4.5 million will go toward the second facility. Its location has not yet been revealed.

Another $750,000 from that $12 million total will be spent on education and outreach efforts, and the same amount will be set aside for advocacy work to ensure access to reproductive health services. The remaining $6 million will be set aside as an endowment for the future of PPGMR.

“While Planned Parenthood has evolved in amazing ways over the last 75 years, our core mission – providing care no matter what – has remained constant,” says Ashley Coffield, President and CEO of PPGMR. “The idea of providing compassionate, quality care in some ways remains as controversial today as it did 75 years ago. Even as we celebrate this milestone, we know that there are many in this community who would seek to eliminate our funding, terrorize our patients, and attack our facilities. The Now Campaign is about committing ourselves to building a fearless, empowered community of advocates and healthcare practitioners for the next 75 years. A new era of Planned Parenthood in Memphis begins now.”

Before the campaign was announced, feminist icon/author/lecturer/journalist Gloria Steinem gave the keynote address. She talked about intersectionality between feminism and anti-racism and the connection between global warming and reproductive rights.

“Forced childbirth is the single biggest cause of global warming,” Steinem said.

She also posed a question to the audience that brought plenty of applause and vocal praise: “Why is it that the same people who are against birth control and abortion are also against sex between two women or two men?” The answer, she said, is that those people “are against any sex that cannot end in reproduction.”

The recipient of this year’s James Award was State Representative Johnnie Turner, who has served on the PPGMR board of directors. Turner made a plea to the audience to vote for a presidential candidate that will assign a new Supreme Court justice that will be supportive of Roe V. Wade. She also asked the crowd to help elect local leaders who support reproductive rights for women.

“I need your help. Some someone to the Tennessee House to help me,” Turner said.

The Judy Scharff Lifetime Achievement Award went to Eddie Kaplan, an attorney who joined the PPGMR board in the 1960s and served two terms as president of the board in the 1970s.

The 2016 Volunteer of the Year awards went to PPGMR volunteers Rachel Ankney and Tamara Hendrix, and the Young Volunteer of the Year awards went to Norma Goodman-Bryan, Hannah Piecuch, Emma Wagner, and Annie Vento, the founders of PPGMR’s first community action team.

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New Website Shares Local Women’s Abortion Stories

Rachel Ankney lives in Memphis now, but she was an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Pittsburgh when she had her abortion. She is white and her boyfriend at the time was black, and as the couple made their way inside the clinic, protesters on the sidewalk hurled racial slurs at her boyfriend.

“I hate to be flippant about it, but my thoughts have always been, ‘Did you really think that strategy was going to work?’ It just shows me, adding to the reason I want to tell my story, [that] the people who are against us are not reasonable, they’re not rational, they’re not trying to help people. The reason that they are winning sometimes is because of our silence.”

Those words are from Ankney’s blog post on the new Tennessee Stories Project website, a joint project of Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region (PPGMR) and Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, as well as other community partners. The site, which officially launched this week, offers women across the state the chance to share their abortion stories in an effort to reduce the stigma around the procedure.

“One in three women will have an abortion in their lifetimes. That’s a lot of people, but not a lot of people are willing to share because of the stigma,” said Leah Ford, community engagement and advocacy coordinator with PPGMR. “We’re collecting stories and putting them onto the website just to say, ‘Here are people who have had abortions, and they’ve have a range of experiences, a range of feelings, and all of that is completely normal.'”

The stories are organized according to the Grand Divisions of Tennessee — West, Middle, and East — and each includes the storyteller’s first name and a photo (or photo illustration for those who prefer more anonymity). The storyteller has to either live in Tennessee now or have had an abortion in the state. Those, like Ankney, who live here but had abortions in other states are fine, too. As of press time, there were only four West Tennessee stories (including Rachel’s) out of 26 stories on the site, but Ford says they’ve got more in the pipeline.

“We have 10 to 15 more people who we’re in the process of interviewing now. Some contacted us after seeing the website,” Ford said.

Once a person shares a story, the Memphis Planned Parenthood office stays in contact “to make sure our storytellers are really engaged through the process and empowered,” Ford said.

“We have opportunities to stay involved after [sharing a story], like hosting a book club to talk about reproductive stigma or workshops on sharing your story more publicly if you’re willing to do that,” Ford said.

Although the main objective of the Tennessee Stories Project is to change the stigma around abortion, Ankney sees another benefit. When she was first considering an abortion, she couldn’t find any resources online to give her an idea of how she may feel after the procedure.

“I found Planned Parenthood’s website, no problem, but I couldn’t go online and find out if I’d be okay or what happens if my mom finds out two weeks before or if women of faith would think I was going to hell,” Ankney said. “Until it’s safe to talk about it, you can go [to the website] and read about other people’s experiences. Nobody’s story is the same, but everybody is okay. The thing about the stigma is that it pushes the idea that people aren’t okay [after an abortion], and our silence perpetuates that.”

To read the stories or share a personal story, go to http://tnstories.org. Other partners in this project include CHOICES: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, Healthy and Free Tennessee, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Council of Jewish Women-TN, the Sea Change Program, and SisterReach.

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Feminist Icon Gloria Steinem to Speak in Memphis

Gloria Steinem

Feminist organizer and activist Gloria Steinem will be the keynote speaker at the Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region’s (PPGMR) James Award celebration in September. 

Her upcoming appearance was announced at a PPGMR reception Thursday evening at the Majestic Grille. This will be Steinem’s first public appearance in Memphis.

“We are so thrilled to be welcoming Gloria to Memphis for this event,” says Ashley Coffield, President and CEO of PPGMR. “While reproductive health providers across the country, and certainly here in Tennessee, are facing more intimidation and political opposition, the need for our services is only escalating — as is the resolve and generosity of our supporters. Gloria’s message is more relevant now than ever in Memphis.”

The James Award ceremony, which this year will also mark PPGMR’s 75th anniversary, will be held on September 15th at the Hilton Memphis (939 Ridge Lake). Each year, the James Award (named in honor of former Memphis City Councilman/PPGMR supporter Bob James) is presented to a Mid-Southerner who has shown “unwavering support to the ideals of Planned Parenthood.” 

Honorees will include Representative Johnnie Turner (D-Memphis) and attorney and former PPGMR Board member Eddie Kaplan.

“We can think of no more deserving individuals for these honors than Rep. Turner and Mr. Kaplan,” said PPGMR Board Chair Barbara Newman. “The passion, courage, creativity, and hard work that they have demonstrated in supporting Planned Parenthood over the past several decades are an inspiration to us all. These awards are presented in gratitude for all that Johnnie and Eddie have done for generations of Memphis women and families.”

Rachel Ankney and Tamara Hendrix will be honored as 2016 Volunteers of the Year. Hannah Piecuch, Ema Wagner, Nora Goodman-Bryan, and Annie Vento will be recognized as the 2016 Young Volunteers of the Year.

Tickets for the James Award celebration are on sale now. For more information, call 901-725-3008 or email Grace Weil.

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Planned Parenthood Plans Vigil, Addresses Security

Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region (PPGMR) will hold a candlelight vigil on Saturday, December 5th to honor the victims of the Black Friday shooting at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs.

In that shooting last Friday, Robert Dear, 57, killed University of Colorado campus police officer Garrett Swasey and two others —  Ke’Arre Marcell and Jennifer Markovsky —
 at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. He wounded nine others and held those inside the clinic hostage before surrendering to authorities. It has been reported that Dear muttered things about “baby parts” during police questioning, which may link his motive to the rhetoric that some pro-lifers have been spreading about Planned Parenthood facilities engaging in the sale of fetal tissue.

The vigil will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. outside the Planned Parenthood at 2430 Poplar. Attendees are encouraged to wear pink.

PPGMR President and CEO Ashley Coffield took a few minutes to discuss how the Memphis facility is addressing security following last week’s shooting.

Flyer: Has Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region stepped up security in light of the recent shooting in Colorado Springs? Are there any plans to implement wanding or metal detectors?

Coffield: We are heartbroken by the shooting at the Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs. In response, we have reviewed our security protocols and consulted local and federal law enforcement. We are confident that we are providing a safe, warm, and welcoming environment for our patients to receive high-quality, compassionate care. We are not wanding our patients and visitors as they enter our facility or using metal detectors. We are vigilant about security, but you shouldn’t have to enter an armed fortress to get birth control, cancer screenings, or abortion services.

There are often protesters outside PPGMR, and they have a First Amendment right to be there. But have you ever had any issues with them stepping onto the property? How do you protect the privacy of patients while honoring the rights of protesters?

Protestors are not allowed on private property, only on public spaces like sidewalks. We have a parking lot that keeps the occasional protestor at a significant distance from our patients and visitors. From time to time, a protestor will step onto our property from the sidewalk. In those cases, we have a professional security guard who will ask the protestor to remain on the sidewalk. We always contact the Memphis Police Department if we have any concerns. We have a strong relationship with law enforcement.

The current political climate and misconceptions about Planned Parenthood seems to have had a part in influencing Robert Dear’s decision to carry out the shooting in Colorado Springs. What would you like people to know about what PPGMR actually does because it’s not just abortions, right?

Planned Parenthood has been in Memphis for nearly 75 years. We won’t be bullied, and we’re not going anywhere. Our doors were open after the shooting in Colorado, and they will remain open. We offer affordable, non-judgmental services such as annual exams, birth control, and STI testing and treatment. HIV testing is always free. Long-acting, reversible contraceptives—IUDs, the implant, and birth control shots—are free. We accept most insurance plans, including TennCare. Our highly trained educators offer free, age-appropriate, honest, and accurate classes for teens and parents on sexuality and sexual health. And our fearless staff and volunteers fight to protect reproductive rights.

As long as Planned Parenthood has existed, there have been people who have tried to discredit the work that we do. We won’t back down from our mission because of smear campaigns and hate speech. I’m grateful and encouraged by the outpouring of support we’ve received from the Memphis region in the last few months, especially in the wake of the shooting. We’re here — no matter what.

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Elaine Blanchard’s The Profound Plan

“Freedom,” Elaine Blanchard says, opening a conversation about The Profound Plan, an oral history about women and Planned Parenthood. “We want the freedom to carry a gun, to fly any flag we want to fly. We want the freedom to call people any name we want to call them. We want freedom. Except for when it comes to a woman’s right to make choices about an unplanned pregnancy.”

Blanchard recalls a story about a white woman and her African-American partner passing through the ubiquitous wall of protesters on the way to Planned Parenthood. Some members of the disapproving crowd called them murderers. Others judged the couple differently and called them “racist.” Abortion, Blanchard notes, is just a tiny fraction of the women’s reproductive health services provided by Planned Parenthood. Women going in for regular checkups and STD-testing face the same shaming wall every day.

Elaine Blanchard

Blanchard hadn’t intended for her new work to be so timely. She was already interviewing workers and clients when a dubiously edited propaganda video zipped across the Internet accusing Planned Parenthood of selling baby parts at bargain-basement prices. She hadn’t anticipated the ongoing political grandstanding or renewed threats to cut the organization’s funding.

“Soldiers” is the word Blanchard uses for Planned Parenthood workers, who manage the pressure of living with threats and constant harassment while working to assure reproductive freedoms.

Blanchard also tells the story of 65-year-old friends who both found themselves romantically involved with men.

“One of the women called her friend and said, let’s do this. Let’s have sex. But let’s go to Planned Parenthood and get tested, just to make sure we’re not carrying anything nasty into this new relationship.” The men also went in for checkups. The result: “five years of bliss.”

“65 years old,” Blanchard repeats. “Who knew Planned Parenthood served so many people in so many different ways.”