Running Head: ISSUE ANALYSIS

Issue Analysis:

Planned Parenthood

Family Planning in 2017

Ruby Sabina

Frostburg State University

Part 1

The organization that I chose to follow is the Planned Parenthood Federation

of America. Planned parenthood, although frequently debated in the news, has been

around for roughly 100 years. Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic

in Brooklyn, NY. This clinic evolved into American Birth Control League, which was

renamed Planned Parenthood in 1942. I believe Planned Parenthood is one of the

most important resources our country has.

The motto of Planned Parenthood is Care. No matter what. According to

their website, their mission has many parts. These include providing

comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings

which preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual, to

advocate public policies which guarantee these rights and ensure access to such

services, to provide educational programs which enhance understanding of

individual and societal implications of human sexuality, to promote research and the

advancement of technology in reproductive health care and encourage

understanding of their inherent bioethical, behavioral, and social implications.

Planned parenthood is a huge organization. They have 57 different affiliate

organizations, and these affiliates operate roughly 650 health centers throughout

the United States. These health centers are comprised of doctors, nurse

practitioners, nurses, nursing assistants, psychiatrists, counselors, and their

patients. They provide services that range anywhere from pap smears and

mammograms to birth control prescriptions, abortion services, and counseling.

One theory that I believe can be applied in a very interesting way to the

Planned Parenthood Organization is Peplaus Interpersonal Relations Model. In this

model, Peplau views nursing as a maturing force that is realized as the personality

develops through educational, therapeutic, and interpersonal processes (Blais,

100). Peplau stresses four phases: orientation, identification, exploitation, and

resolution. In the orientation phase, the patient comes to Planned Parenthood (or

any organization) for help. The nurse listens to the patient and helps them discover

the extent of their problem and what they really need. During the identification

phase, the nurse helps the patient feel like they are a part of the practice. They help

them feel less hopeless in their problem. This is also when the nurse could create a

nursing care plan. At Planned Parenthood this phase is especially important because

many of their patients feel worried about the services they may be seeking. They

need to feel comfortable and in control. The third phase, exploitation is when the

power shifts from the nurse to the client (Blais, 100). In this phase the client uses

the nurse for any and all needs they may have. Finally, in the resolution needs the

nurse and patient set new goals because the older ones should be resolved at this

time. This is really important, because as we meet our patients most basic needs we

can continue to help them realize new ones. This really speaks to Planned

Parenthoods goal of providing comprehensive reproductive health care services.

Although a patient may come in for one thing, the nurse can help them accomplish

many goals.

The concepts of health promotion that can be found at Planned Parenthood

are really in depth and important. As an organization, this is listed as one of their
ISSUE ANALYSIS 4

main goals and it really is important to them. When you first look at their website,

you see educational material related to many different womens health issues. This

is because Planned Parenthood believes in enabling women to have control over

their own health. This is why they offer services, but also education and counseling.

They also offer these at a low cost or no cost to qualifying patients, enabling health

promotion no matter what the patients economic status. This also speaks to their

focus on diversity. They even offer education about gender and sexual orientation

issues, not discriminating based on gender assigned at birth. They are also located

all over the country, and serve patients no matter their race or sexual orientation.

The economic structure of Planned Parenthood has long been hotly debated

in our country. They are a non-profit organization. They operate on a large amount

of federal funding. They also operate based on donations from their own patients

and high profile donors such as Bill and Melinda Gates. Many organizations have

argued that because Planned Parenthood provides abortion services, they should

receive no federal funding or grants whatsoever. Although there are laws

prohibiting federal funds from being spent on abortion services, Planned

Parenthood very carefully ensures this is not the case. Even today, womens access

to contraception and family planning services are being debated around the country.

Planned Parenthood uses a lot of social media to communicate with patients,

as well as with supporters of their organization and goals. This is great, because

they have information and education readily available at all times for anyone who

needs it.
ISSUE ANALYSIS 5

Part 2

Family planning is definitely the biggest issue Planned Parenthood focuses

on every single day. This includes providing birth control, abortion services, the

morning after pill, and pregnancy services and check ups. Family planning has been

a topic of interest hotly debated in our country since its inception. Many people

claim access to birth control is unnecessary, as is access to abortion. Those who

vehemently oppose abortion generally oppose Planned Parenthood and any other

family planning services. As the longest running birth control and family planning

clinic in our country, they have an exceptional amount of experience navigating this

tricky road. They already have staff that is well trained in these issues.

It would appear that changes having to do with family planning seem to sway

depending on our current administration. Although many women do not believe this

to be an issue that should be weighed in on by our government, many conservative

lawmakers believe they should have a say in what a woman can or cannot do with

her body. This makes effecting change on this topic difficult. If Planned Parenthood

is stripped of their federal funding, which accounts for roughly 1/3 of their funds,

they may have a difficult time providing care to women across the country. Also,

depending on the state laws being put into place, Planned Parenthood may or may

not be able to provide their services. Also, many changes in the Affordable Care Act

allowed women to receive birth control at no cost. If this changes, costs of operating

for Planned Parenthood will go up. This means the best way to effect change in this

issue to ensure lawmakers are preventing TRAP laws or other laws being put into

effect by state legislators. They need to ensure they have a large enough political
ISSUE ANALYSIS 6

presence to continue their funding and provide care to their patients. The huge

downside, or con, to this is that the amount of funding or care they provide can

change depending on the political climate at the time. This is especially sad

considering the fact that only 3% of the services Planned Parenthood provides are

abortion related. On the positive side, with government and federal funding they are

able to provide these necessary services to patients who cannot afford them.

Planned Parenthood estimates that they prevent roughly 579,000 unwanted

pregnancies per year, so this makes these services even more important.

Nurses have seen the dark side to limited family planning services. When

women are forced to take their lives into their own hands the consequences can be

dire. This means nurses are there to pick up the pieces. We also see the health

consequences to the lack of education and options about things like STDs and

condoms. Unfortunately, this can mean sicker patients who need more from nurses

in other settings all over the country.

References

Blais, K., & Hayes, J. S. (2015). Professional nursing practice: Concepts and

perspectives (6th edition) (6th ed.). United States: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Mission. (2014, May 21). Retrieved January 24, 2017, from

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/mission

Petiprin, A. (2016). Hildegard Peplau Theory. Retrieved January 24, 2017, from

http://www.nursing-theory.org/theories-and-models/peplau-theory-of-

interpersonal-relations.php

Planned parenthood at a glance. (2016, November 1). Retrieved January 24, 2017, from

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/planned-parenthood-at-

a-glance.

Rovner, J. (2011, April 13). Planned parenthood: A thorn in abortion foes sides.

Retrieved January 24, 2017, from

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/13/135354952/planned-parenthood-makes-abortion-

foes-see-red