Planned Parenthood Celebrates 80 Years of Providing Quality Healthcare to Women and Families in Central and North Texas

For Immediate Release: Feb. 25, 2015

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Dallas, TX – This year, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas is celebrating 80 years of providing trusted healthcare and health education services to Central and North Texas women, men, teens, and families.

In 1935, Katherine Ripley of the Ripley Shirt Company family in Dallas was one of the lead founders of the Dallas Birth Control Center (which became Planned Parenthood) when dissemination of birth control information and devices was still illegal in the United States. Ripley corresponded with Margaret Sanger, an American birth control activist, sex educator, and nurse in New York who opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established organizations that ultimately evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Ripley would send empty shirt boxes from the Ripley Shirt Company in Oak Cliff to New York, and Sanger would return them filled with condoms, diaphragms, and health education materials.

Inspired by Sanger’s work, volunteers formed health centers throughout Texas in the 1930s to provide information and contraceptives to low-income, married women. Volunteer physicians and nurses provided the healthcare services, and by the end of the century, the Dallas affiliate was operating 27 clinics throughout Dallas, Fort Worth, and the surrounding areas. Today, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas has health centers located throughout Central and North Texas including Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Paris, Tyler, Waco, and surrounding communities.

“At Planned Parenthood, we have been talking about sex and politics for over 80 years, long before it was an acceptable conversation,” said Ken Lambrecht, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas. “Planned Parenthood has never hesitated to stand up for the healthcare and education that Texans need—regardless of the challenges that we face. We’re proud to remain as trusted a resource for healthcare and education today as we were when we were first founded in Dallas 80 years ago.”

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas now provides healthcare and health education services to nearly 95,000 Central and North Texans each year—including breast and cervical cancer screenings, testing and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, HIV tests, birth control to help families plan and space their pregnancies, and other preventive healthcare. For many patients, Planned Parenthood is their medical home and their only source of healthcare. Statistics show that 1 in 5 women has received services from the organization at some time in their lives.

Planned Parenthood’s health centers offer high quality, affordable medical care for women, men, and teens. Planned Parenthood’s patients benefit from the convenience of same-day appointments, extended hours, and birth control options available onsite at the health center without a co-pay. Patients receive quality care with or without insurance.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas is preparing for its major annual luncheon fundraising events in Fort Worth on February 6 and in Dallas on March 26. The Planned Parenthood Annual Luncheons are always celebrations of Planned Parenthood’s mission. This year, they mark a special milestone in its history.

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Lou Ann York
York Communications
214.343.1599 office
214.395.1152 cell
[email protected]

Sarah Wheat
Planned Parenthood
512.276.8063 office
512.657.3311 cell
[email protected]