“Planned Parenthood serves tens of thousands of women and families across this state and countless numbers of them will be hurt by this government shutdown. This is an extremely difficult time for the people of Minnesota and I want to do whatever I can to help. We need a balanced budget solution that protects the most vulnerable Minnesotans," said Rep. Hornstein.

We are humbled by Representative Hornstein’s generosity and thank him for standing up and taking action to help the many in need in our state.

Thank you Representative Hornstein!

What if there were a strategy that you, as a parent, could use to keep your kids healthy? To buffer them from the many challenges and risks they face?  A tool to help protect them against unintended pregnancy, violence, drug use and depression and more?  And what if this strategy were so powerful that the public health world referred to it as a super protector? You’d be all over it, that’s what.

It’s called Parent-Child Connectedness or PCC, and it’s at the heart of our education efforts at Planned Parenthood. Our sexuality educators just released a report on the concept that will help parents and communities build healthier futures for Minnesota youth.

PCC is a strong emotional bond between parent and child that is both mutual and sustained over time. It’s beyond providing the basics for our kids, like food and shelter. It’s about time together, building a climate of trust, structure and open communication.

As the school year draws to a close, there’s a good chance that you’ll have more face time with your kids. From summer vacations to long weekends together, the months ahead present a great opportunity to slow the pace and reconnect.

And, believe it or not, parents have more influence in the lives of teenagers than anyone else. In fact, the top reason that teens delay intercourse is that one or both of their parents object. And when asked to reflect on  decisions about sex, teens cite parents as the most influential (46%), ranking more than twice as high as their peers.

We know that training to be a parent happens on the job, so the report explains PCC and provides tools that parents can use right away to begin building and strengthening their connection to their children, no matter what age.

One great strategy is spending time with your child. The time we spend with our kids lets them know we value them.  It can be as easy as enjoying entertainment or just being together.. You don’t have to have a purpose. It’s the time itself that counts.

Another easy way to create and strengthen PCC is to have dinner together.

Planned Parenthood’s Education and Outreach department has created the Let’s Eat, Let’s Talk . . . Let’s See Where It Takes Us! Tablemat to help families engage in healthy discussions at the dinner table. The tablemat is available in English and Spanish and features questions like:

What is love?
What are three things you can do to be healthy?
What helps a person be a good parent?
How have you changed in the last year? 

You can download it here in English or Spanish and check out a great video explaining the importance of family meals from our experts!

For more Parent-Child Connectedness strategies that you can try right away, read our report. 

In a recent report by Teenwise, Minnesota’s teen birthrate has fallen to a 40 year low.  After increases in 2006 and 2007, Minnesotas overall teen birthrate dropped to 24.3 births per 1,000 females (aged 15-19).  This rate is significantly below the national average.

Via the Star Tribune:

Minnesota's rates were higher than the national averages, however, for Hispanics and Asian-Americans, and among the worst in the nation for African-Americans. Minnesota's teen birthrate for American Indians is nearly double the national average.

Report contributor, Brigid Riley, said the vast disparities between racial and ethnic groups are likely due to the inequities in income and education, as well as a variety of other factors. She also emphasized the importance of sexual education programs that discuss abstinence and also provide teens with the information they need to keep themselves healthy and safe.

Riley cited teen programs that work in schools that give teens a “more nuanced conversation about health relationships.” Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota has several peer education programs that do just that—comprehensive sex education one classroom at a time.

Read more about Minnesota teen birthrates in the Star Tribune.

It is a challenging (but exciting) time for supporters of women's movements and civil rights. So many courageous women and men are doing their part to affirm human rights and equality, one need only look to their neighbor, their coworker, their friend to find one inspiring story after another of the power in civic involvement and community activism.

Equally inspiring is to look back into our histories, to see that the women and men who came before us faced and overcame similar challenges.

Hallie Quinn Brown, born March 10, 1850 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was one of six children born to Frances Jane Scroggins and Thomas Arthur Brown, both well-educated freed slaves who were active in the Underground Railroad movement. Their involvement lived on in Hallie, who throughout her lifetime became a well-known educator, writer, public speaker and women's activist.

Just ten years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing "all slaves in areas still in rebellion," and a mere eight years after the end of the Civil War and ratification of the 13th Amendment, Brown earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Wilberforce University in Ohio, before going on to teach in schools in Mississippi and South Carolina. In addition to teaching on a number of Southern plantations, from 1885 to 1887 she acted as Dean of Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, where she also taught for ten years, and served as Dean of Women at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama during the 1892-1893 school year before returning to Ohio to teach in the Dayton public schools. While in Dayton, she also established an adult class for migrant workers. She became a professor at her alma mater in 1893, and was a frequent lecturer on temperance, women's suffrage and civil rights.

Brown developed a reputation as a powerful orator, and spoke before the Women's Christian Temperance Union Conference and the International Congress of Women, both in London, as well as before Queen Victoria. She also spoke at the Republican National Convention in 1924 and later directed campaign work among African American women for President Calvin Coolidge, but before all this was the founder of the Colored Women's League of Washington, D.C., which in 1894 merged into the National Association of Colored Women. From 1905 to 1912 she served as president of the Ohio State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, and of the National Association of Colored Women from 1920 until 1924.

After a long life lived advocating for civil rights, Brown passed away on September 16, 1949, at the age of 99. Today, two buildings are named in her honor: the Hallie Q. Brown Memorial Library in Wilberforce, Ohio, and the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center right here in Saint Paul.

The Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, a private, nonprofit social service agency serving the Summit-University neighborhood, was founded in 1929, born as the result of the vision and efforts of several community leaders of that decade. It was during the 1920s that the Saint Paul Urban League was formed to address growing social problems facing African Americans in the community. Under the direction of the Urban League's Executive Secretary, Elmer A. Carter, community members were surveyed about how needs might be best met, and an advisory committee was formed to make plans for a community center. On April 1, 1929, Miss I. Myrtle Carden, the center's first Executive Director, met with the Urban League to discuss a name. The group decided to hold an essay contest, in which writers profiled the life of an outstanding leader. Hamline University student Herbert Howell, with his essay on Hallie Quinn Brown, won the contest and gave this community center the name we know it by still today.

Hallie Q. Brown Community Center provides a full range of services, including emergency food and clothing support, youth and seniors programming, and administrative support to the Martin Luther King Center and its partners, including the nationally-recognized Penumbra Theatre Company.

We are proud to partner with the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center for a Food Drive during this Friday's Solidarity Event, in recognition of the woman who inspired the center's name as well as the critical work the center has done these last 80+ years. If you are planning on joining us on Friday, please bring along some items to donate to the food shelf. Donation wish list includes: personal hygiene items; toilet paper; canned fruit; canned soup, stew and chili; cereal; flour, sugar and cooking oil; and pasta and ramen noodles.

Help us really make Friday count, and lend a hand to our friends and neighbors in the Summit-University community.

After a campaign that rallied hundreds of thousands across the country on behalf of Planned Parenthood, congressional leaders reached a budget deal late Friday night that spared Title X, the nation’s family planning program.

“Common sense has prevailed, “said Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. “A shutdown of the federal government because of an ideological standoff over Planned Parenthood would have been outrageous and shameful,” said Stoesz

Minnesotans joined women and families across the country to let congress members know that Planned Parenthood provides needed services, prevents unintended pregnancies and saves money.

“Hundreds of thousands of people came forward on our behalf during this very challenging time. We're very thankful to the patients who were willing to share the stories of the care they received from Planned Parenthood and how it changed their lives. We're thankful to donors, who redoubled their support. We're thankful to the elected officials who stood up for what was right. And we're thankful to each and every person who phoned, wrote and raised a hand for Planned Parenthood,” said Stoesz.

The groundswell of support was an inspiring reminder of our role as a needed and appreciated member of the community.

In Minnesota alone, more than fifty thousand women rely on Planned Parenthood’s Title X supported clinics each year for access to preventive health care such a cancer screenings and birth control.

Planned Parenthood’s Title X supported clinics provide an array of preventive health services, such as birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings; pelvic exams and pap smears, high blood pressure, diabetes, and anemia screening; testing for sexually transmitted infections and HIV, basic infertility services, pregnancy testing and comprehensive health education.

“These clinics are part of the fabric of the communities they serve,” Stoesz said.

More than ninety five percent of Planned Parenthood's work involves preventive services that help women, families, and communities stay healthy.

 ###

Contact: Kathi Di Nicola, 651.755.9557

Each year on Good Friday, a thousand or more anti-choice protesters picket outside of our Highland Park clinic in St. Paul. But this year is different.

We have learned that the opposition is seizing what they believe is an opportunity to make this year their largest protest ever, going so far as to recruit “crowd control volunteers.”

In a year filled with so much animosity toward women’s health, we need your support now more than ever.  

Between now and April 22, when you contribute to our “Pledge a Protester” campaign, you help guarantee that every protester who shows up on this “record-breaking day” will raise money for Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.

See what you can do to Pledge a Protester! 

Our Highland Park clinic is a daily target of anti-choice protesters. Each day they hurl insults at our patients, intimidate our clinicians, and wave their grotesque and misleading images at any and all passing by. Over the years, our patients and staff have been followed to their cars and even had their license plates recorded by these protesters.

Help us guarantee that every protester who shows up to picket our clinic on April 22 has been pledged by a Planned Parenthood supporter. Help us show the opposition that we refuse to surrender our clinic to their narrow views – not even for one day!

Want to be a part of the counter-protest? Sign up today to stand with Planned Parenthood on Good Friday!

March is such a fickle month. We get a big thaw, Daylight Saving Time begins and we think spring is upon us. But then, we get a day like today - blizzard conditions, a stiff wind and inches upon inches piling up on the grass we could see just yesterday.

Need a little cheering up?

Well first of all, we promise that it's only a short matter of time before the crocuses and daffodils poke their green stems through the snow-cleared dirt. And not long after that, it'll be so hot only a dip in a cold lake will cure you. That should be almost enough to make you a happier person, right? But for that extra umph of good cheer, why not consider volunteering?

Mental health professionals and academics have long paid attention to what makes people sad - what causes depression, both short-term and long, and how to deal with it. But recently, it seems there's been a new interest in what makes people happy. Are some predisposed to optimism? How do one's friends, family, workplace, and the world around them factor in? Can money buy happiness?

One thing researchers have noted is the effect volunteering can have on well-being. One 2003 study(1) found that volunteer status and number of hours volunteered was significantly linked to improved well-being and fewer depressive symptoms, especially in older adults. According to that research, the maximum benefit from volunteering was achieved in older adults when they volunteered 100 hours a year, or just 2 or 3 hours a week. Another study (2) found that volunteering and depression are inversely related in those over the age of 65, and that adults who engage in sustained volunteering tend to be less depressed no matter what their age.

Why not think ahead to those hot summer days and plan now to start volunteering, or maybe consider an internship? Our locations all have air conditioning for the days when you could use a break from the heat, and you'll get the chance to have a great time getting to know a team of fun volunteers and staff.

For the summer, we're seeking interns in areas like Human Resources and Community Education/Outreach, as well as volunteers to help greet visitors to our Uptown and Highland Park locations, help staff our Spanish-language clinic, escort patients, and provide outreach information at various community events and health fairs. If you'd prefer to make a difference from home, we're always looking for letter writers, bloggers and social netowrkers. Do you vacation a lot during the summer, and don't want to make a regular weekly commitment? That's fine, too - we have an e-mail network of special projects and one-time events so you can opt in whenever you have time!

Maybe you took a peek outside as you read this, and found you need a boost before the snow melts. Would you like to get involved right now? We have plenty of volunteer needs during the spring (it is spring, you know), and we offer orientations for new volunteers roughly every two weeks so it's easy to begin at any time.

For more information or to get involved, contact us at volunteers@ppmns.org or 612.821.6113, or to be connected with your local office dial 1.800.230.PLAN.

(1) Morrow-Howell N, Hinterlong J, Rozario PA, Tang F. Effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2003; 58(3):S137-45.

(2) Musick MA, Wilson J. Volunteering and depression: The role of psychological and social resources in different age groups. Social Science and Medicine. 2003; 56:259-269.

As reported by www.pursuit-of-happiness.org. 

> Sign up to stand with Planned Parenthood on Good Friday

Every year, over a thousand anti-choicers show up at our Highland Park Clinic in St. Paul to protest on Good Friday. It’s a challenging day for our patients and staff. The protesters carry harassing signs and try to intimidate our patients.

What the anti-choicers don’t understand is that Planned Parenthood does more in one day to prevent the need for abortion than anti-choicers do in a lifetime. Thankfully there are a lot of people who DO understand that, and they show up in droves to stand with Planned Parenthood. Check out the video from our 2009 rally below:

Good Friday is on April 22nd this year, and we need a strong showing of Pro-choicers to let the anti-choicers know that Minnesotans stand with Planned Parenthood. Can you join us?

Click here to register and sign up for a two hour shift!

Thanks for your support!

Moments ago, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to bar Planned Parenthood from any type of federal funding for the services we provide to the more than 52,000 low-income patients throughout our region. We are is in the midst of an aggressive and unparalleled attack on women’s health and reproductive rights in our country – one that could wipe out more than a century of progress and put our patients and their families at risk.

Over the past several weeks Planned Parenthood and the issue of reproductive rights have received a significant amount of media. We are urging our supporters to Stand with Us, read what is being said and respond with the facts.

• In North Dakota: The House has passed the Defense of Human Life Act (a.k.a. the “personhood bill”), which grants legal rights to a fertilized human egg. It also has passed a bill to strengthen the state’s Abortion Control Act, mandating the dissemination of inaccurate materials about abortion, requiring women seeking an abortion to make two trips instead of one, and making it nearly impossible for at-risk teens to exercise their rights to “judicial bypass.”
  
  • FARGO FORUM North Dakota Legislature: Abortion bill bans embryo destruction
• In South Dakota: A bill mandating that a woman seeking an abortion wait 72 hours after her initial consultation with her doctor (and in the interim get counseling from a so-called “crisis pregnancy center”) is moving through the House.
  
  •  THE DAILY REPUBLIC SD panel endorses abortion counseling measure 
• In Minnesota: We learned this week much to our relief that Governor Dayton has fully funded the state's family planning programs in his newly released budget. These programs are critical to serving our patients, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck. This is just the opening chapter; the legislators have yet to move on their budgets. Meanwhile a resurgent Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) has won the introduction of a bill to eliminate Medicaid funding for abortion and a bill to establish “Choose Life” license plates, with the revenue going to adoption agencies that do not offer full options for women.
  
  • THE MINNESOTA INDEPENDENT Four abortion bills suggest Minnesota Republicans angling for lawsuit

Here are a few statistics regarding our Minnesota Title X Supported Clinics:

• 52,482 women and men received health care services
• 94 percent are women
• 94 percent of patients are 18 or over
• 61 percent have incomes at or below the federal poverty level
• 86 percent have incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level
• 42 percent are uninsured
• 37 percent receive public health insurance
• 2,236 patients have limited English proficiency
• 16,079 women received Pap tests through the Title X program
• 20,129 women received a breast exam through the Title X program
• 60,147 tests for sexually transmitted infections and HIV were conducted 
  • STAR TRIBUNE Planned Parenthood CEO: Title X 

If Title X funding is eliminated, family planning services, which are not only crucial to the lives of our patients, but also to the health of rural communities, will be even less accessible and the disparities between rural women’s health and their urban and suburban counterpart will grow. We need your help to defend women’s health care against these extremist measures.

You can make a difference by contacting your representatives and making a special gift to Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota today to help us continue the fight and keep our clinic doors open.

Congress recently called for a complete defunding of Title X, a program that provides family planning services to countless people across the country. Earlier this week, in Washington D.C., Minnesotan Deb Zupke, a Planned Parenthood patient, joined with lawmakers and PPFA president Cecile Richards, to speak out on the importance of Title X to rural communities.

Zupke’s sister Katie was diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer during a check up at a Planned Parenthood in rural Minnesota. Fortunately, after nearly a decade of treatments and check ups, Katie was declared healthy.

During the press conference, Zupke explained the vital role Planned Parenthood played in Katie’s and her well-being:

Katie is sure that Planned Parenthood is the reason she was able to have her son. She knows that had there not been the option to go to an affordable provider like Planned Parenthood, she would not have had regular exams and those pre-cancerous cells could have turned into cancer and we may not be able to share her story today.

Had there not been a provider like PP, we most likely would not have received regular exams, been informed about sexual health or had access to birth control. We could have been statistics. My sisters and I all now have college degrees; we are married and have children. This is in no small part, due to the care and information that Planned Parenthood provided to us. We, and so many others in our community, are grateful for Planned Parenthood and its wonderful health care providers!

It’s a very powerful example of just how critical Planned Parenthood and other Title X family planning clinics are to rural health. But if you need more convincing, here are a few more examples of the patients we serve...

• A woman in northern Minnesota with a compromised immune system who needed screening for cervical cancer. 
• A self-employed, uninsured man in central Minnesota who needed testing and treatment for STIs. 
• A drug rehabilitation patient in western Minnesota who needed birth control to prevent an unintended pregnancy. 
• A domestic abuse victim in southern Minnesota who needed treatment for an infection and referral to a shelter.

A Profile of Patients Served at our Minnesota Title X Supported Clinics 

• 52,482 women and men received health care services • 94 percent are women
• 94 percent of patients are 18 or over • 61 percent have incomes at or below the federal poverty level
• 86 percent have incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level 
• 42 percent are uninsured • 37 percent receive public health insurance 
• 2,236 patients have limited English proficiency
• 16,079 women received Pap tests through the Title X program 
• 20,129 women received a breast exam through the Title X program 
• 60,147 tests for sexually transmitted infections and HIV were conducted

If Title X funding is eliminated, family planning services, which are not only crucial to the lives of our patients, but also to the health of rural communities, will be even less accessible and the disparities between rural women’s health and their urban and suburban counterpart will grow. We can't let this happen.