Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest's
Commitment to Black Communities

Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest’s vision is a world where access to health care doesn’t depend on who you are or where you live, and where everyone has the opportunity to choose their own path to a healthy and meaningful life. To make this vision a reality, it is not enough to simply continue our existing equity and reproductive justice work; we must commit to specific actions to support Black communities in our region and we urge our supporters to engage in this work also. 

Racism is a public health crisis. Public health by definition is built on the principle of saving lives and there has been no greater threat to Black lives than violence -- from blatant police brutality to centuries of policies that have systematically oppressed Black people to individual acts rooted in racism and white supremacy culture. 

• We must confront how white supremacy of the past and present continue in the institutions we are a part of today — including our own organization. 
• We acknowledge how the faults in our history have manifested today, including the implicit bias within our own organization, and recognize that this is part of the problem. 
• We acknowledge that for decades, Black organizations and leaders, especially Black women, have been leading the work to advance racial and reproductive justice, and this commitment is meant to honor their calls to action.

Read more about the specific actions we commit to here.

This is the next step in our work to build a more equitable and just organization, movement and society and we recognize there is more we will need to do. If Black people are unable to exercise bodily autonomy, to live their daily lives — or protest the violence against their lives — without the fear of violence or murder, we can never achieve justice, let alone reproductive freedom.