Planned Parenthood Federation of America records group III (PPFA III)

In 1921 Margaret Sanger founded the national lobbying organization, American Birth Control League (ABCL) which in 1942 became Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). Between 1921 and 1942 the organization underwent two transformations. In 1923 Sanger opened the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau (BCCRB) for the purposes of dispensing contraceptives under the supervision of licensed physicians and studying their effectiveness. The ABCL provided institutional backing for clinics. The BCCRB merged with the ABCL in 1939 to form the Birth Control Federation of American (BCFA). In 1942 the name of the BCFA was changed to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The name change reflected a redefinition of the organization's goals from family limitation to family planning. While PPFA continued to function as the largest birth control organization in the country, it sought to position itself as a more mainstream and moderate organization committed to a broad range of programs related to reproductive health. Under the leadership of National Director D. Kenneth Rose, the PPFA expanded its programs and services through the 1940s, adding affiliate organizations throughout the country. By the end of World War II, the Federation was no longer solely a center for birth control services or a clearing house for contraceptive information but had emerged as a major national health organization. PPFA's programs included a full range of family planning services, including marriage education and counseling, and infertility services. The leadership of the PPFA, largely consisting of businessmen and male physicians, endeavored to incorporate its contraceptive services unofficially into regional and national public health programs by emphasizing less politicized aspects such as child-spacing. During the 1950s, the Federation further adjusted its programs and message to appeal to a family-centered, more conservative post-war populace, while continuing to function, through its affiliated clinics, as the most reliable source of contraceptives in the country.

From 1942 to 1962, PPFA concentrated its efforts on strengthening its ties to affiliates, expanding public education programs, and improving its medical and research work. By 1960, visitors to PPFA centers across the nation numbered over 3,000,000 per year.

In the 1950s PPFA began focusing greater attention on global population issues as new concerns arose over the political, social, and cultural implications of overpopulation in Asia and around the world. The organization became active in international birth control work through its membership in the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), which Margaret Sanger helped found in 1952. In 1961 the population crisis debate, along with funding shortages, convinced PPFA to merge with the World Population Emergency Campaign, a citizens' fund-raising organization, to become PPFA-World Population. Later in the 1960s, after several decades of emphasizing a family-centered, more conservative program for public health, PPFA reasserted its primary commitment to championing women's reproductive rights. It was also in the 1960s that family planning began to win the support of the federal government. Alan Guttmacher, M.D., who served as president of PPFA from 1962 until his death in 1974, was an effective advocate for the idea of a woman's right to safe and effective birth control. He successfully fought for the development of federally funded domestic and international family planning programs. Guttmacher also played an important role in the development of the birth control Pill and IUD. The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) was named in his honor. AGI is an independent corporation for research, policy analysis, and public education on reproductive health issues and is a special affiliate of PPFA.

In 1970, Congress enacted Title X of the Public Health Services Act, providing support and funding for family planning services and educational programs and for biomedical and behavioral research in reproduction and contraceptive development. The Family Planning International Assistance division was established in 1972 by PPFA, becoming the largest U.S. nongovernmental provider of family planning services to developing countries.

In 1978, Faye Wattleton was appointed the first woman president of PPFA since Margaret Sanger. She led PPFA in its ongoing battle to preserve access to safe and legal abortion, to protect client confidentiality, especially for minors, against encroachments by the state, and to preserve federal funding for domestic and international family planning programs. By the time she retired from PPFA in 1992, Wattleton had greatly expanded its program of advocacy around the idea that sexual and reproductive liberation is central to women's equality.

In the 1980s and 90s, PPFA faced an onslaught of opposition to family planning and birth control. The organization challenged regulations passed under the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush that placed restrictions on U.S. funding of family planning services overseas and domestically. Organized right-wing opposition and violence against birth control and abortion providers also became a serious concern. PPFA continues to confront this opposition while it also addresses the public health issues surrounding sexuality and reproduction, such as the AIDS epidemic and the effect of poverty on families and children. Gloria Feldt currently serves as president of Planned Parenthood.

References: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ABOUT/NARRHISTORY

The Margaret Sanger Papers Microfilm Edition: Smith College Collection Series, edited by Esther Katz, et al., University Publications of America, 1995