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planned parenthood insider december 2011 a newsletter for elected officials from ppsftc president lillian tamayo planned parenthood of south florida and the treasure coast ® a message from lillian tamayo women s health matters rally on august 23rd 2011 planned parenthood of south florida and the treasure coast brought more than thirty community organizations from palm beach broward and miamidade counties together to thank elected officials who stood with planned parenthood and protected women s health care since we were founded in 1971 our planned parenthood affiliate has grown tremendously we started as a small storefront in west palm beach only able to provide basic pregnancy testing today our 9 health centers provide comprehensive reproductive health care across 8 counties we also offer extensive sexual health education programs to teens and parents across south florida and the treasure coast we look forward to continuing these services for years to come in this issue of the planned parenthood insider we are excited to spotlight our women s health matters rally in broward introduce our new board chair and highlight our newest education programs members of medical students for choice from nova southeastern university with ppsftc president/ceo lillian tamayo congresswoman wasserman schultz told the crowd planned parenthood is a vital component of our nation s health care fabric one that we can t afford to lose left to right rep hazelle rogers sen eleanor sobel rep gwyndolen clarke-reed rep lori berman congressman ted deutch congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz and sen nan rich sincerely lillian a tamayo president/ceo more than 100 supporters came together at the fort lauderdale woman s club to hear inspiring speeches from congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz and congressman ted deutch representatives from six south florida sections of the national council of jewish women the palm beach and broward national organization for women the american civil liberties union of florida and the league of women voters joined together to support planned parenthood at the rally.

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introducing marianne ireland board of directors chair recently i was asked why i volunteer for planned parenthood the question made me stop and think as i tried to put my feelings into words i am 55 a physician and a mother to an 18 year old girl and 10 year old twin boys i knew that chairing the planned parenthood board was something i had to do planned parenthood was there for me in college i remember the cost of birth control was four times less at their health centers than anywhere else like many college students i was on a tight budget and planned parenthood provided me with an affordable option i will never forget that today planned parenthood works tirelessly to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and keep women healthy people of all ages go to planned parenthood because they know they will receive quality affordable and compassionate reproductive health care i want to be a good role model for my children that is why i volunteer my time and energy to fight for a woman s right to essential health care like breast and cervical cancer screenings sexually transmitted infection sti prevention and treatment birth control and sexual health information when asked why i volunteer for planned parenthood the answer is simple i need to do the right thing marianne ireland is chair of planned parenthood of south florida and the treasure coast s board of directors planned parenthood from a patient s perspective there is nothing more compelling than local planned parenthood stories told in our patients own words the real stories in this column demonstrate the need to increase access to affordable high-quality reproductive health care services page 2

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comprehensive sex education time for your teen risky behaviors and how to help their teenagers stay safe educators dispel myths and parents learn medically accurate facts and information about adolescent development sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy prevention during the program educators ask parents to explore their own definition of sexuality and their personal values parents discuss how their own values influence their feelings about sexuality and how they communicate with their teens parents learn to teach their teens how to say no and emphasize the importance of abstinence parents also learn about sexually transmitted infections and contraception and discuss myths vs facts one in three women will become pregnant before their 20th birthday and one in four teen girls have a sexually transmitted infection planned parenthood believes that these alarmingly high rates can be avoided and teens should turn to their parents first for information on how to protect themselves in order to better equip parents with answers to their teens questions planned parenthood launched time for your teen a new education program funded by the children s services council of palm beach county focusing on opening the doors to effective communication between parents and their teenaged children time for your teen helps parents understand the role they play in reducing beyond the stork this fall planned parenthood joined with the jewish women s foundation of the greater palm beaches the jewish teen initiative the national council for jewish women palm beach section the friedman commission for jewish education and the jewish community center of the palm beaches to host beyond the stork a program designed to go beyond the myths and encourage jewish parents and teens to communicate about important sexual health issues planned parenthood s trained educators worked with parents and teens to promote healthy communication about sexuality enabling parents to be the first and best resource to answer their children s questions families who couldn t make it can look forward to additional beyond the stork programs in 2012 page 3

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2300 n florida mango road west palm beach florida 33409 it s hard to imagine a world without planned parenthood trusted doctors and nurses educators advocates to schedule a health center tour or to reach our public affairs staff did you know almost 2 million women in florida have no health insurance coverage almost 1 million women in florida are in need of publicly supported contraceptive services and judith selzer vp of public policy and communications 561.472.9940 mayte canino government relations manager 786.594.4741 public_affairs@ppsoflo.org www.ppsoflo.org

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