Our values and concerns
At Planned Parenthood South Texas, we believe that – birth control is a foundational aspect of planning a person’s future and creating a better life for every person and their family, now and for generations to come.
– everyone has a right to decide whether, when, and how many children to have. – everyone has the right to access high-quality prenatal care, adoption services, and abortion care.
– sexuality is a wonderful and beautiful part of being human, and sexual health care is essential to ensure a happy, fulfilling, and responsible love life.
– sexual health care must be provided with compassion and respect — no shame, no judgment. We also recognize that access to health care isn’t always enough for our patients to plan their families and their futures. Too often, our patients walk out of our clinics only to battle racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination. Attacks on immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community are pervasive and unjust. Voter suppression limits the ability of citizens to make their voices heard. We recognize the inherent intersectionality of these values and concerns, and we commit to being a voice in support of patients, their overall well-being, and their dreams for a bright future. As such, we partner with community-based organizations to advocate for these issues because we know that we are in this together and we are stronger together. Together we fight for all.
Engaging our communities through advocacy and volunteerism PPST volunteers support our mission in many ways. They serve as safety aides for our patients, raise awareness of our work in the community, help at the reception desk and with administrative work, and serve as advocates for sexual and reproductive health care and rights. PPST volunteers represented Planned Parenthood at 72 events through San Antonio, Brownsville, and Harlingen and collected 3,018 supporter cards (far exceeding the 464 cards collected in 2018).
Volunteers allow PPST to extend its reach in communities and engage more supporters. In 2019, a total of 110 people volunteered at Planned Parenthood; together, they volunteered a total of 2,021 hours. The volunteer program was expanded to include the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) where 8 people volunteered in 2019. RGV volunteers and supporters made a significant show of public support for PPST by attending local meetings with city officials in both Harlingen and Brownsville. This public support was essential in helping PPST secure a grant from the City of Brownsville in 2019.
ADVOCACY Lobby Day: 66 advocates from San Antonio, Brownsville and Harlingen went to Austin to meet with lawmakers and show their support for reproductive health. They held 28 meetings with lawmakers and their staff. DIGITAL ADVOCACY # of Followers on: Facebook 5,857 (an increase of 16% in 2019) Twitter 1,061 (an increase of 11% in 2019) Instagram 1,162 (an increase of 87% in 2019) Social Media Engagement in 2019*: 38,119 * Engagement is an action taken, for example, a “like,” retweet, share, or comment on one of our posts
8 | 2019 IMPACT REPORT: PUBLIC AFFAIRS & HIGHLIGHTS
