Go to Content Go to Navigation Go to Navigation Go to Site Search Homepage

Washington, DC — Tina Tchen, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, welcomed Planned Parenthood staff and supporters from across the country in the opening session of the Planned Parenthood 2009 Organizing and Policy Summit.

Tina Tchen provided participants with a status update on health care reform and reiterated the Obama administration’s commitment to women’s health.

“I can say this directly from the White House, the president reiterated to all of us in the senior staff that health care is the most important issue,” said Tchen. “It is the signature issue that he ran on; it is what he believes is one of the singularly most important reforms that need to be made that affects America, that affects our economy.”

More than 400 Planned Parenthood representatives were in attendance, including Planned Parenthood affiliate CEOs, staff, supporters, and 200-plus Planned Parenthood teen educators and college students. Also speaking at the opening session were Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards.  

“Women will be deeply affected, of course, because we tend to be, unfortunately, the ones who work low-wage jobs, service-sector jobs, have less access to employer-sponsored health care,” said Schakowsky. “The goal of the health care bill we’re working on is to ensure, for the first time in history, that women and their families and all Americans have access to affordable, quality health care.” 

The summit is an opportunity for Planned Parenthood, one of the nation’s leading women’s health care providers and advocates, to advance the organization’s legislative and advocacy agenda, with a particular focus this year on health care reform.

During the three-day summit, participants will work to ensure that women’s health is a priority in health care reform and that any health care reform effort includes two important pieces: access to comprehensive reproductive health care and access to essential community providers within the network. This ensures that basic preventive care, such as contraception, Pap tests, and other cancer screenings are covered and that women are able to access trusted health care providers in the communities where they live. 

“This gathering couldn’t come at a more critical time,” said Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards. “Health care reform is moving full steam ahead, and policymakers in Washington need to know the importance of including women’s health care as part of a reform package. We are grateful that Tina Tchen and Rep. Schakowsky took time away from their busy schedules to update us on health care reform and take our message back with them to their colleagues.”

Other events in the Policy and Organizing Summit include a day of lobbying, organizing and advocacy workshops, panel discussions, and the presentation of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Maggie Awards and Barry Goldwater Award.

###

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 700 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.

Source

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Contact

Planned Parenthood Federation of America media office: 212-261-4433

Published

May 14, 2014

We and our third partners use cookies and other tools to collect, store, monitor, and analyze information about your interaction with our site to improve performance, analyze your use of our sites and assist in our marketing efforts. You may opt out of the use of these cookies and other tools at any time by visiting Cookie Settings. By clicking “Allow All Cookies” you consent to our collection and use of such data, and our Terms of Use. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.

Cookie Settings

We, and our third-party partners, use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies to collect, store, monitor, and process certain information about you when you access and use our services, read our emails, or otherwise engage with us. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device. We use that information to make the site work, analyze performance and traffic on our website, to provide a more personalized web experience, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also share information with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can change your default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of required cookies when utilizing our site; this includes necessary cookies that help our site to function (such as remembering your cookie preference settings). For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Marketing

On

We use online advertising to promote our mission and help constituents find our services. Marketing pixels help us measure the success of our campaigns.

User Feedback and Session Replay

On

We use qualitative data from LogRocket, UserZoom, Hotjar and AB Tasty to learn about your user experience and improve our products and services. LogRocket allows us to view session replays.