The Right Fight to Be In

Over the last year, Rebecca Gibron has demonstrated powerful, innovative, and steady leadership. Her fierce and relentless dedication to the Planned Parenthood mission culminated in the Board of Directors appointing Rebecca as Chief Executive Officer of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky.  

“I’m delighted and humbled to be asked to lead this organization, during what is, without a doubt, our most challenging chapter. Every day, our entire staff wakes up with one singular mission: to provide excellent health care, education, and advocacy to our patients and the people in our communities, in a setting that honors their needs, dignity, and privacy. That was true before the Supreme Court eviscerated Roe, and it will continue to be true every day.” 

“When there are moments where I feel I can’t go on, or when I feel discouraged. I take a moment and sit back, and the person who comes to my mind every single time I think I can’t do this work anymore is my grandmother. This is the right fight to be in.”  

“My grandmother is where I got this fiery hair from – she was a fierce red head in the Midwest. I remember having conversations with her at the dining room table where all things were discussed. She said, ‘Do something amazing with your life that matters. Get out of Kansas and be a fierce equal partner in life. You need to be a champion – get out and do things that I never could.’”    

At 16, Rebecca went with a friend to Planned Parenthood in Boise. “I will never forget that experience. It changed my life. The way that I was treated and cared for. It was a health center here in Boise. It was the very first health center ever opened here, and it was in the basement. From the moment I walked up to the reception desk, there was warmth and care. I instantly felt a sense of comfort, peace, and safety.” 

Rebecca remembers her clinician, Dixie, and the education that was shared. “She talked to me about birth control and how being on birth control wouldn’t protect me from sexually transmitted infections. She made sure to tell me that when I started to have sex to make sure my partner wore a condom. She told me all the things that I had never been told growing up or by my parents.”   

Years later, Rebecca returned to Planned Parenthood. She has served PPGNHAIK for more than 25 years, including as Director of Finance, President and CEO of the Idaho affiliate, Chief Administrative Officer, and as Chief Operating Officer. She has served on numerous national PPFA committees and task forces such as New Business Initiatives and Mergers & Consolidations.  

From her first day at Planned Parenthood in Idaho, she began to realize that this was where she was supposed to be. “I began to feel a sense of belonging. This is what grandma meant! I could see the difference in the work we were doing – with the patients in the health center and the outreach the education team would do in the evening.”   

Under her leadership, Planned Parenthood expanded its services in Idaho. “Things really took off. We opened a health center in Twin Falls, and we started to talk about abortion care. ”At the time, there was only one abortion provider in Idaho, and Planned Parenthood clinicians would refer patients to that clinic. Rebecca knew patients relied on Planned Parenthood for compassionate care and felt that referring them out of the organization was not the patient-centered care that Planned Parenthood wanted to provide.    

“I hired a new medical director.  She wanted to not only do abortion care but also establish an abortion residency training program. I loved that idea, and I felt that Planned Parenthood needed to seed the future of reproductive health care providers in Idaho.”  

“It is one of the proudest moments in my career – to work in partnership with the board and clinicians to initiate abortion services at Planned Parenthood in Idaho. We could provide care for patients without needing to refer them to another clinic.”   

Until the overturning of Roe this past summer, the Idaho abortion residency training program was one of the most successful programs in the U.S. Physicians from across the country would seek out residency in Boise specifically because of the abortion services training program.   

Launching abortion services in Idaho and building a residency program that was nationally recognized is true testament to Rebecca’s fearless leadership and her commitment to patients. It is one of many moments that certainly would make her grandmother proud.   

While the affiliate has been through many changes, none were as great as the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Rebecca is determined to not let the antis win. "In November, abortion saved democracy. We now must be as determined to fight – to restore access to abortion. They want to close Planned Parenthood. They want to outlaw birth control, IUDs, and Plan B. This is a marathon. We can’t afford to give up this fight.”