Contraception is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Planned Parenthood. The organization has built its reputation around safe sex for almost 90 years, when it opened the first birth control clinic when abortions and oral contraceptives were illegal and sexually active women had few options. As a way to stand up for women’s rights and change society’s perceptions of sex, Margaret Sanger, devout Catholic and founder of Planned Parenthood, put the program at the forefront of the fight for sexual rights.
Now as the program’s mission has expanded and their target audience has grown beyond the female population to include men and teens, it can be expected that Planned Parenthood would gain even more support if they changed their name to facilitate a better image that is not only more attractive to those who seek their services, but also promotes their overall goals.
Today, the organization continues Sanger’s original mission, but now addresses more issues like sexual education reform, promoting yearly STI screenings, ensuring health care access and targeting reproductive rights in Africa, Asia and South America. Their services also have expanded to include free counseling and screenings for STIs members of the community.
Similar government-sponsored programs in Canada and Korea have already changed their name to be more representative as sexual health agencies intended to support society. For example, currently Korea is suffering from an age epidemic because they have the lowest fertility rate in the world and to stabilize social growth the Planned Parenthood of Korea stopped offering abortions.
After the change in policy, Planned Parenthood of Korea changed their name to Planned Population Federation. The new name helps to conjure up a better idea of the organization’s mission for members of the community still willing to seek their services. However, since the program is one of the largest and more influential of its kind in Korea, it can be expected to influence the current issues.
Since the U.S. version of Planned Parenthood has actually added more services, their name should reflect the change. As the first and largest government-sponsored program of its kind with over 840 health centers across the nation, the organization can reach out to even more members of the population with a name that no longer seems inclusive to women looking to start families but responsible adults who are having sex.
In 2005, the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada had changed their name to the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health despite their Toronto, Windsor and Ottawa affiliates keeping the old name.
In an article written by the Toronto Globe and Mail report, PPFC Executive Director Linda Capperauld said members sought a name change to update the image of the organization. She said that a focus research group showed that the Planned Parenthood name misrepresented the group’s message and services among younger respondents and the general public.
“A lot of young people thought they would only turn to us if they were ready to start having children. They didn’t see that we had a much broader focus and broader range of services,” said Capperauld.
The situation in Canada is still very similar to what is happening in the U.S. today. Planned Parenthood is government sponsored as well as an organization more people tend to feel comfortable with since it has been around so long – all the more reason the directors should change the name.
Issues like teen pregnancy, AIDS, sexual abuse and reproductive rights were still taboo in the time of Sanger but now are being discussed and brought to life by Planned Parenthood. In the past year, 36 percent of the organization’s health services were with contraception, 31 percent STD testing and treatment, 17 percent cancer screening and prevention, and only 3 percent abortion services. So why not choose a name that reminds people of what else the group offers the community?
Also as an organization that is set to promote healthy relationships using the word Parenthood might conjure up the retro image of a house wife and blue-collared husband. This idea completely overlooks the main population between the ages of 15 and 25 that the organization assists and as well as the large portion of families without health insurance looking for alternatives for inexpensive medical assistance. The name Planned Parenthood also implies that the services are only for heterosexual couples excluding those in the gay community.
By changing the name to something like The American Sex and Reproductive Agency, the government would be able to have their services appeal to a larger spectrum of society as well as address more sex issues.