THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 34 lines
Eighty years ago on Oct. 16, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, opened the first family-planning clinic in America. Ten days later the clinic was raided by police. Ms. Sanger and her colleagues were imprisoned for the crime of dispensing information about contraception.
Today, contraceptives and family-planning services are widely available. Ninety percent of Americans support access to family planning, based on a national poll conducted this spring. With fourscore years of progress, so much has been gained. So much could be lost. . . .
The recently adjourned 104th Congress attempted to roll back many of the gains of the past 80 years. The Communication Act of 1996 would have criminalized discussions of abortion on the Internet. Funding for international family-planning programs in 1996 was slashed 87 percent from the previous year. In 1995, the House of Representatives came within 10 votes of eliminating Title X, which provides contraceptive services, annual exams, treatment of sexually transmitted infections, mammograms and cervical-cancer screenings for more than 5 million uninsured women and their families each year.
It is difficult to find a Congress more hostile to contraception in the latter half of this century than the 104th. Unless the majority of Americans can make their voices heard over the shrill din of religious political extremists, the 105th Congress may be just as hostile.
LISA R. PERSIKOFF
Executive director
Planned Parenthood
of Southeastern Virginia
Hampton, Oct. 2, 1996 by CNB