Planned Parenthood is one of the most amazing, impactful organizations. It is need-based, globally helping millions each year. Planned parenthood combats our scarce and narrow sex education, offering everyone safe reproductive health care and sex education; resources most everyone needs or desires. Here I will provide an overview of this awe-inspiring organization and the different ways that they can help you. 

Reproductive Healthcare 

The fundamental principle of Planned Parenthood is to offer reproductive healthcare to all women who need it, in any way they want it. Planned Parenthood has abortion clinics, where they offer in-clinic abortion procedures, the abortion pill, post-abortion follow-up exams, and additional guidance and support. If the Planned Parenthood near you isn’t an abortion clinic, they will give referrals to other safe and trusted clinics. 

Planned Parenthood also offers emergency contraception, which you may know as the morning-after pill. This is birth control you can take up to five days after having unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy. Planned Parenthood provides information about Plan B and other brands of the morning-after pill. Emergency contraceptives can also be in the form of certain IUDs, which Planned Parenthood can help you get.

Additionally, the staff provides medically accurate information and helps in accessing different types of birth control. They offer services for birth control implants, patches, pills, shots, and vaginal rings. They also offer services for cervical caps, diaphragms, condoms, sterilization, and more. They work extensively and thoroughly with their patients to match them with the option that is safest and best fits them!

Primary Care

Some Planned Parenthood health centers have nurses and doctors whom one can routinely visit. They offer screenings for cholesterol, colon cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and thyroid. They also administer immunizations for COVID-19, the flu, and Tetanus. Even more, they have UTI testing and treatment, Anemia testing, sexual health checkups, physical exams, smoking cessation programs, and referrals for rape crisis counseling. These services are large in range, providing medical healthcare in many important ways. This is why Planned Parenthood is so amazing, it works to help everyone in every way possible!

HIV Services & STD Services

Planned Parenthood offers referrals and hands-on services for patients with HIV. They conduct HIV testing, test education, case management, and prevention. 

Their health centers also conduct STD testing and treatment. They can help one get vaccines, help with prevention methods, and teach about STDs and safe sex. Planned Parenthood refers to its staff as “non-judgmental,” explaining that it is a safe and trusting environment to go to for help and STD screenings.

Sexual and Reproductive Education

Planned Parenthood is a leading provider of sex education in the U.S. They offer comprehensive education on abstinence, birth control, cancer screening, pregnancy options, safe sex, STIs, HIV, HPV, fertility awareness, sex, and gender identity, and more. All of these services are provided in a non-judgmental and medically accurate manner. 

Pregnancy Testing and Services

Planned Parenthood also offers a variety of pregnancy-related services, including pregnancy testing and planning, adoption services and referrals, prenatal services, postpartum exams, childbirth classes, and staff for counseling about miscarriage. Again, Planned Parenthood prides itself on their staff providing these services with no judgment and unconditional support.

Transgender Hormone Therapy

Planned Parenthood states and believes that “you deserve high-quality, compassionate health care that’s appropriate for your needs — no matter your gender identity.” This is why they provide transgender women, transgender men, and nonbinary people with estrogen and anti-androgen hormone therapy, or testosterone hormone therapy. They also provide puberty blockers. 

Men’s Health Services 

Although it’s viewed as an organization mostly for women, Planned Parenthood has sexual healthcare for men as well. They educate on, examine, and treat erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. They can assist men in getting a vasectomy, and screen for male infertility, and testicular and prostate cancer. Planned Parenthood makes sure to have quality health services for all genders, aligning with its core value to be accessible for every individual.

Women’s Services

Planned Parenthood is a leading organization for women’s healthcare. They list that they offer services in breast exams, pelvic exams, cervical cancer screening, colposcopy, cryotherapy, incontinence, infertility, LEEP, menopause testing and treatment, Pap test, mammogram referrals, and this list goes on and on. Planned Parenthood staff are widely recognized as experts in women’s healthcare, providing trusted and compassionate services.

Planned Parenthood is available online through telehealth or in person at their health clinics. Planned Parenthood has over 600 locations and likely many near you. To find one near you, enter your ZIP code into their website and they will give you many of their closest locations. Here is the link to Michigan’s Planned Parenthood website. It is important to know that not every Planned Parenthood center offers all of these services; to figure out which location to visit, compare the different services offered at each one. 

This blog is just a reminder of one amazing organization that will always be there to support each and every one of us. This article is part of a new series of blog posts highlighting local and national places and resources that offer support and healthcare to all. My hope is to promote these so that everyone will be able to access the healthcare they need.