The Election and Reproductive Health

Now that the United States has a new president-elect (congratulations Senator Obama!), what will this mean for your reproductive health?

Thankfully, Senators Obama and Biden both have a history of voting in favor of women's health care, including supporting science-based education, affordable contraception, and choice. Their administration thus promises to be one that promotes reproductive rights - we will continue to be able to care for ourselves, prevent pregnancies, and learn, learn, learn. Hopefully that last, very important part of reproductive health (education) will be increasingly more commonsense and less abstinence-only.

While the ballot in Virginia did not contain anything concerning reproductive health care, voters in South Dakota, California, and Colorado had to decide whether to support harsh anti-choice initiatives in their own states. To the citizens' credit, all of these initiatives were defeated. Well done!

We are not done with this election, though. Our next legislative step here in Virginia is the General Assembly's Regular Session in January 2009. Check out this website to find out how to become involved.

Déguster 2008

This Sunday, October 26th, we will be celebrating our 18th annual Déguster at Plant Zero. This is a big deal for us. It's a chance to introduce people to the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, reinforce the relationships we already have, and raise money for the important services we provide at the clinic.

Not only will we be having a live AND a silent auction, but we will be serving delicious food and beverages from 12 restaurants in and around Richmond. You will even be able to listen to Gypsy Roots while enjoy the French bistro-style atmosphere.

If you would like to attend, please visit our website or call (804) 355-4358 x15. You won't be disappointed!!

Emergency Contraception (EC)

The condom broke...
You forgot your birth control...
You had sex when you didn't want to...

Then emergency contraception (EC) might be right for you.

What is emergency contraception?
Sometimes called the morning after pill or Plan B, emergency contraception prevents pregnancy after unprotected intercourse. You can begin the process up to five days after unprotected intercourse.

How effective is it?
The sooner you begin taking EC, the better it will work. Only about one percent of women who take the pills within three days after unprotected intercourse will become pregnant.

Is emergency contraception an abortion?
There is a rumor that EC causes an abortion, which are not true. Instead, EC is made up of the same hormones as birth control, which prevent the woman's ovaries from releasing eggs.

Where can you get EC?
If you are over 18 years old, you can buy EC at any Planned Parenthood, including VLPP, or a drugstore without a prescription. If you are younger than 18, you will first have to get a prescription from your health care provider.

STIs: What You May NOT Have Learned in Sex Ed

Working at Planned Parenthood gives employees - even those in administration - a broad knowledge of reproductive health. I am always surprised by what I learn, mostly because it's information I wish I had had way back when.

Here is a selection of interesting facts to whet your appetite, courtesy of the Guttmacher Institute and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

• The CDC estimates that 20 million people in the United States are infected with HPV


• Heterosexual transmission of HIV accounts for over 75% of the newly diagnosed cases.


• Half of people that are newly diagnosed with STDs are between the ages of 15 and 24. Even more shocking: this age group makes up only 25% of the sexually-active US population.


• For the fiscal conservatives out there: direct medical costs for STDs in the US are about $14.7 billion a year.


• More than half of us will have an STD in our lifetimes.

There will be many more posts that cover specific aspects of STDs, including diagnosis, treatment, and, most importantly, prevention.

In the meantime, we would like to hear your stories and questions. Are you confused by which STDs are curable and which aren't? Did you get tested recently? Do you ever discuss STDs with your partner?

So Many Acronyms, So Little Time

What is the difference between VLPP, PPFA, and PPAV?

The Virginia League for Planned Parenthood (VLPP)

VLPP is located in Richmond at our clinic on Floyd Avenue. We provide reproductive health care and education to the metro-Richmond area. Anytime you donate to VLPP, your money helps us provide these much-needed services to our patients.

Our mission is to ensure that individuals and families have the freedom, information, and ability to make their own informed reproductive choices. We believe that each individual has a basic right to control his/her reproductive life. Individual control will lead to a better quality of life and stronger families and communities. Reproductive health decisions must be voluntary and private.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia (PPAV)

According to their website, PPAV is a statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to preserve and broaden reproductive freedom through legislation, public education, electoral activity and litigation in the Commonwealth of Virginia. PPAV works to ensure that individuals and families have the freedom, information, and ability to make their own informed reproductive choices.

Your donation to PPAV goes to their electoral and lobbying efforts.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA)

PPFA is the national organization, while our clinic, VLPP, is one Planned Parenthood affiliate. Donations to PPFA supports their national and international programs

The mission of Planned Parenthood Federation of America shall be to provide leadership in

• ensuring the provision of comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings that preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual
• advocating public policies that guarantee these rights and ensure access to such services
• providing educational programs that enhance understanding of individual and societal implications of human sexuality
• promoting research and the advancement of technology in reproductive health care and encouraging the understanding of their inherent bioethical, behavioral, and social implications

What is the HHS Rule? Why Does It Matter?

You may have received a forwarded email about something called the HHS Rule. The email may have even asked you to sign a petition While confusing, the HHS Rule is something everyone should understand because it has to do with your rights.

Basically, the HHS Rule says that any medical provider that receives aid from the federal government would not refuse to hire someone who is against abortion or even birth control. If providers did refuse to hire someone who objects to abortion because of “religious beliefs or moral convictions”, their federal funds would be cut.

One important part of the HHS Rule has to do with the definition of abortion as “any of the various procedures—including prescription, dispensing, and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action—that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.”

As you can see, the definition of abortion in the HHS Rule is so broad that it could include more than what we usually consider abortion. It could instead include birth control, emergency contraception, and IUDs.

What this ultimately means for patients, especially those who are low-income or uninsured, is that they may not have access to the contraceptive services they need because an anti-choice provider considers contraception to be abortion.

Finally, the HHS Rule could potentially harm rape victims who seek emergency contraception to prevent a potential pregnancy. Now these victims have access to EC at every hospital; with the HHS Rule in place, they may be refused access.

Welcome!

This is the inaugural post from the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood (VLPP), located in Richmond, Virginia. Hooray!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what we do here at VLPP, here's some background and information about the services we provide.

VLPP has been providing reproductive health care services to the Greater Richmond Metropolitan area for over 65 years.

We are the single largest provider of preventative, routine gynecological services for low-to-moderate income women in the Greater Richmond Metropolitan Area.

VLPP provides a full range of low-cost reproductive health care services including:

• annual exams
• diagnosis and treatment of pre-cancerous cervical conditions
• sexually transmitted disease (STD) screenings and treatment
• basic medical care
• first trimester abortions

In 2007 VLPP provided the following services:

• dispensed more than 20,000 cycles of prescription birth control
• performed 202 tests and treatments for precancerous cervical conditions (and coordinated follow-up care for the 50 women who required further treatment)
• performed more than 2,000 annual exams
• provided comprehensive prenatal care and educational support for nearly 200 women

VLPP also provides reality-based sexuality education programs. These programs provide young people with the information they need to make responsible life decisions.

In addition, VLPP works to educate and mobilize our community to ensure that Virginia’s lawmakers do not create laws that would inhibit any person’s ability to make their own decisions about their reproductive health or ability to plan their families.