Roe v. Wade 2021 Virtual Luncheon
On January 22, PPGC hosted our annual Roe v. Wade Luncheon, celebrating the 48th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision and, this year, honoring PPGC’s frontline health care workers. And, for the first time ever, the event took place in an entirely virtual format.
Thanks to supporters like you, the record-making day drew 1,270 virtual attendees and raised more than $872,000 for our mission. Thank you for your unwavering commitment and dedication to Planned Parenthood. If you were unable to join us on January 22, you can view the virtual program here.
Two long-time volunteers and donors, Lainie Gordon and David Mincberg, and their daughters Erin Mincberg Spiegel, Mallory Mincberg, Samantha Gordon Danner, and Amy Mincberg, stepped up to chair the virtual celebration. The Mincberg and Gordon family has a long history of supporting Planned Parenthood’s mission – from Lainie’s 15-plus years as a volunteer at Planned Parenthood Center for Choice to David’s role on PPGC’s Board of Directors and Prevention Park Building Committee.
“Our goal is to stand in solidarity to protect reproductive health and rights, and to provide support through our financial contributions and advocacy to Planned Parenthood’s mission and services,” Lainie said. “We also wanted our participation to be a family commitment, so that, like many of you, we could pass on our ideals to the next generation.”
The event was made especially meaningful by this year’s honoree’s: PPGC’s frontline health care workers, who have adapted and innovated like never before to continue providing expert sexual and reproductive health care across southeast Texas and Louisiana during a pandemic.
“You are health care heroes every day,” PPGC President and CEO Melaney A. Linton said in her address. “But today, on this historic anniversary, during this historic time in our country and our lives, we thank you and we honor you for your dedication, your resilience, and your unwavering commitment to our patients.”
This year’s program featured PPGC educators and local youth from the teenREACH and Sisters Saving Sisters peer education programs, who put guests’ sex ed knowledge to the test with entertaining virtual trivia.
Guests also heard from PPGC patient advocate Kim O’Brien, who bravely detailed her own experience trying to access abortion in Louisiana, and from Dr. Bhavik Kumar, PPGC’s medical director of primary and trans care and abortion care provider at PPCFC. In a poignant keynote address, Dr. Kumar shared his firsthand experience when Texas politicians exploited the COVID-19 crisis to temporarily ban abortion in the state.
