NEW YORK — Planned Parenthood’s 100th anniversary celebrations this weekend come with a sense of relief for the group that traces its roots to a time when women could not vote and contraception was illegal. The organization, whose services include birth control, sex education and abortions, has survived largely intact in the face of violence, vilification and fierce efforts in Congress and many states to cut its funding.
There’s been some adverse impact: In Texas and Wisconsin, for example, some Planned Parenthood facilities closed after the states cut off funding streams. But most of the Republican-led defunding efforts have been thwarted, and multiple investigations related to the disposition of fetal tissue have thus far failed to prove wrongdoing on Planned Parenthood’s part.
Meanwhile, the organization has received strong backing from the Democratic Party, including presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and says support from the public is robust.
“The attacks have only strengthened our resolve,” said Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. “I do believe we are in a stronger place today than a year ago, or five years ago.”
Planned Parenthood’s foes, who denounce its role as the nation’s leading abortion provider, show no signs of relenting. Eleven anti-abortion groups issued a joint statement depicting the 100th anniversary as “a tragic milestone for our nation and a reminder of the millions of unborn children who will never have a birthday.”
However, opponents also express some frustration at Planned Parenthood’s lobbying and fundraising skills.
“They put themselves in role of martyr while at the same time making money hand-over-fist,” said Kristi Hamrick of Americans United for Life. “The thing they’re really good at is public relations and marketing and making money.”
Planned Parenthood dates its beginnings to Oct. 16, 1916, when Margaret Sanger, her sister and a friend opened America’s first birth control clinic in Brooklyn. It was a challenge to mores and laws of the time, four years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.
The clinic was raided, and Sanger was convicted of disseminating birth control information. Undaunted, she founded two organizations that later merged to form the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.