Most people know that Planned Parenthood is America’s oldest and most trusted provider of contraception, but they aren’t always aware that the reproductive health care agency is one of California’s leading providers of cervical cancer screenings. 

    People may know that Planned Parenthood offers age-appropriate, comprehensive sexuality education at schools, but they don’t always know that the organization offers free classes for parents who want to learn how to talk to their kids about sex. 

    Most people know that Planned Parenthood offers reproductive low-to-no-cost health care services, but they have no idea just how many people need those services.  In 2009 Planned Parenthood of San Diego & Riverside Counties received more than 275,000 patient visits at 19 health centers throughout the region.

    The majority of patients are seeking birth control, or testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.  In fact, more than 90% of the health services offered at Planned Parenthood are preventive. 

    Because of the agency makes birth control widely available, it is responsible for preventing 600,000 unintended pregnancies in the United States each year. Nearly half of these pregnancies would have ended in abortion.

    For more than 90 years building healthy communities has been Planned Parenthood’s mission.  Every day they help all kinds of people get the health tools and information and, above all, the care and compassion they need to prevent unwanted pregnancies, or to plan for families when they are ready.

    Every day Planned Parenthood provides women and men with the most sophisticated instrument in medicine: accurate information, which can help them make the best decisions about their health.

    Planned Parenthood believes health care is a basic human right, one that is dispensed freely and without judgment to every person regardless of race, gender, class, age or sexual orientation.

    Planned Parenthood doesn’t believe you should “wait and see.”

    Planned Parenthood doesn’t believe that only people with health insurance or cash get to be healthy.

    The health care providers don’t believe that there are questions too embarrassing to ask.

    Come to Planned Parenthood just as you are. Health care professionals are there with an open mind, a caring touch and extraordinarily sophisticated tools and expertise.

    You can count on Planned Parenthood.

    Visit Planned Parenthood of San Diego & Riverside Counties at www.planned.org or call 1-888-743-PLAN (7526).