Check the Press Room for News Updates!

Proposed Department of Health and Human Services Regulation

At a time when we should be celebrating women’s equality, the Bush Administration is seeking new ways to limit women’s right to basic health care. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has circulated a draft rule that would limit the rights of patients to receive complete reproductive health information and services. It would also radically redefine abortion to include the most common and effective methods of birth control.

For more information, and to tell the President you oppose these rules, visit the Planned Parenthood Federation of America website.

Members of Washington State's Congressional Delegation, along with Governor Gregoire, have expressed their opposition to President Bush's attempt to undermine women's health. Senator Maria Cantwell spoke on the floor of the Senate to voice her concerns. Senator Patty Murray co-authored an opposition letter to Michael Leavitt, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Washington State Congressional Representatives Jay Inslee, Rick Larsen, Brian Baird, Jim McDermott and Adam Smith signed a similar letter to Secretary Leavitt from members of Congress. And, Governor Gregoire also wrote a letter to Secretary Leavitt, speaking out in opposition to this draft rule.

Please take a moment to thank your representatives!

Women's Equality Day

Women's Equality Day is Tuesday, August 26th. This day celebrates women’s right to vote. The passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on August 26th, 1920 finally guaranteed women the right to vote. Join Planned Parenthood and volunteer your time so we can make sure this right is not squandered! We need your help to reach out to women voters and get them involved in the political process. In order to protect women’s access to basic health care, we need women’s voices to be heard loud and clear. There are lots of volunteer opportunities including: phone banking, canvassing, data entry and helping us staff information tables at summer events across the state.
For more information on any of these opportunities, contact us.

Join the push for Health Care Reform

The Healthy Washington Coalition, which is a large group of organizations working together on health care reform for our state, is holding a series of public meetings around the state to discuss what Washingtonians think are the most important issues in reforming health care. These meetings are a very important opportunity for us to speak up on family planning issues. "Health care reform" can sound intimidating - like something you'd have to really know a lot about in order to make intelligent contributions to the conversation. That's not true! "Health care reform" is just people talking about how to make good health care more available to more people. These meetings are specifically designed to be town hall-style meetings for the public, and your voices speaking up for the role of reproductive health in overall health care and coverage are crucial!

Three upcoming meetings are scheduled in Bellevue, Everett and Vancouver. Please let us know if you can attend a meeting - we would love to see you there!