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Planned Parenthood Historical Timeline

1910s

1916

  • Margaret Sanger opens first birth control clinic in New York

1920s

1920

  • Women win the right to vote

1923 

  • Sanger founds American Birth Control League and Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau, which later become Planned Parenthood Federation of America
     

1930

1935

  • Maternal Health Center opened in Milwaukee, which later becomes Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin

1940s

1940s

  • Health center operations at PPWI shut down as most volunteers are involved with WWII activities

1949

  • Maternal Health Center becomes Planned Parenthood of Milwaukee

1960s

1960

  • FDA approves birth control pill

1964

  • IUD services initiated at PPWI

1965

  • Griswold v Connecticut Supreme Court decision removes laws prohibiting use of contraceptives by married couples

1967

  • PPWI opens first health center outside Milwaukee in Waukesha

1970s

1970

  • Congress enacts Title X of the Public Health Service Act and makes contraceptives available regardless of income

1971

  • PPWI became first Wisconsin recipient of Title X Funding
  • Name changed to Planned Parenthood Association of Wisconsin
  • Colposcopy services initiated at PPWI
  • PPWI opens health centers in Kenosha and Green Bay
  • PPWI initiates Sickle Cell Anemia screening

1972

  • Center for Training in Family Planning established to train nurse specialists in family planning

1973

  • PPWI opens health centers in Appleton, Manitowoc and Sheboygan
  • Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision legalizes abortion
  • PPWI opens special teen clinic in Milwaukee

1974

  • PPWI opens health center in Madison

1975

  • PPWI opens health center in West Bend

1976

  • PPWI opens health center in Oshkosh
  • US Supreme court case - Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972) - struck down a Massachusetts statute that banned the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried people. This allowed unmarried people in Wisconsin to access birth control.

1977

  • Congress enacts Hyde Amendment to prohibit use of federal Medicaid funds for abortions for poor women
  • PPWI established Teen Peer Counseling program

1978

  • Congress mandates insurance coverage of prenatal care and delivery

1979

  • PPWI opens health centers in Portage and Wisconsin Rapids

1980s

1980

  • Ronald Reagan elected, is the first U.S. president to strongly and openly oppose abortion

1981

  • Congress passed chastity education programs instead of effective comprehensive sex education programs

1982

  • Name changed to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin

1984

  • Gag Rule denies U.S. family planning funds to any overseas organizations that offer counseling about abortion or abortion referrals (Planned Parenthood refuses to comply resulting in defunding)
  • PPWI opens health center in Eau Claire

1985

  • Anti-family planning groups launch “Year of Pain and Fear” and firebomb, vandalize, assault, and make death threats to family planning and abortion providers and centers

1987

  • Reagan proposes Title X Gag Rule which forbids family planning centers from counseling a patient about abortion even if she specifically requests information
  • HIV screening begins at PPWI

1988

  • PPWI establishes AIDS Outreach Program to provide HIV/AIDS prevention information and to distribute condoms to prostitutes, IV drug-users and their partners, and the homeless to stop the spread of infection

1989

  • Initiation of early prenatal care services at PPWI
  • Education Department at PPWI publishes “New Vision” a culturally sensitive curriculum from African-American and Hispanic youth – one of the first in the country

1990s

1990

  • Pregnancy tests become available over-the-counter

1991

  • PPWI initiates abortion services

1993

  • Bill Clinton elected president, the first pro-choice president in 12 years, and repeals Title X Gag Rule, Global Gag Rule, and two federal abortion bans

1994

  • PPWI opens health center in Racine

1996

  • Wisconsin enacts waiting period for abortion

2000s

2000

  • PPWI establishes Outcare health center to serve LGBTQ youth
  • FDA approves mifepristone (formerly RU-486) for medication abortion use

2003

  • PPWI opens health center in Delevan
  • President Bush signs into law abortion ban criminalizing abortion

2004 

  • March for Women’s Lives, the largest, most diverse pro-choice demonstration in history on the National Mall in Washington, DC

2008

  • Wisconsin enacts Compassionate Care for Rape Victims

2009

  • Barack Obama elected President and makes clear his support of health care for women and their families, overturned Global Gag Rule
  • Wisconsin enacts Healthy Youth Act
  • Wisconsin enacts Prescription Protection Act, requires pharmacies to dispense birth control prescriptions
  • FDA makes EC available over the counter

2010s

2010  

  • Affordable Care Act becomes law. Birth control is covered by health insurance without co-pays or deductibles.

2011

  • Governor Walker defunds PPWI in the state budget and takes away state Maternal and Child Health dollars for prevention work resulting in the closure of 5 rural PPWI health centers.

2012  

  • The Healthy Youth Act is repealed.

2013  

  • Governor Walker ends PPWI’s 16 year contract with Well Woman Program

2014  

  • PPWI files lawsuit against state regarding law restricting medication abortion

2015  

  • PPWI files lawsuit against the state regarding law requiring admitting privileges

2016

  • Governor Walker signs two additional attempts to defund PPWI
  • Supreme Court strikes down Texas law (HB2), protecting women's constitutional right to abortion
  • Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin 80th anniversary
  • Planned Parenthood Federation of American 100th anniversary