ST. PAUL, Minnesota—Planned Parenthood North Central States has received a transformative $20 million gift, the largest single gift in the organization’s history, from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Her visionary generosity will sustain PPNCS’s mission and will propel innovation to support health care for more than 100,000 people a year, with a continued commitment to health equity. The gift will fund world-class sexual and reproductive health care, comprehensive sex education, and advocacy across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska.
Twenty other Planned Parenthood affiliates and the national office are receiving a total of $275 million from MacKenzie Scott for our mission of delivering equitable health care.
“We are honored and deeply thankful to receive this historic and incredibly generous gift to fund Planned Parenthood’s work on behalf of the people we serve,” said Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. “Every single person deserves to have sexual and reproductive health care, no matter what. Our mission changes lives and this gift will help us grow our impact during a pivotal time for reproductive health care in our country.”
As the region’s largest provider of sexual and reproductive health care, Planned Parenthood North Central States operates 28 health centers and a robust telehealth program in the five-state region, serving more than 100,000 patients a year. Planned Parenthood clinicians provide high-quality, affordable comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services including birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, and abortion care.
Planned Parenthood’s education program in the region has grown to 50 educators who provide science-based, culturally specific programs for youth, adults, and professionals. The organization has also built a robust research department including studies of new contraceptive technology, health equity, and abortion access.
The gift will help sustain Planned Parenthood’s ability to provide comprehensive reproductive health care such as birth control, and comes at a critical time for abortion access and rights, as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to release a decision this summer directly challenging the right to abortion.
“MacKenzie Scott’s generosity is particularly important as we are facing the possibility of the Supreme Court wiping out safe and legal abortion in large parts of our country,” said Stoesz. “We at Planned Parenthood are preparing to transition our health care delivery model in response to whatever the court decides because we know people will be relying on us more than ever for abortions, as well as for the many other health care services we provide. Multiple states in the Midwest could lose access to abortion this summer, and we will be doing everything we can to make sure everyone gets the health care they need and deserve.”
This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court will release a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a case regarding a Mississippi 15-week abortion ban law. The case is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the decision that established the right to abortion. While all eyes are on the Supreme Court, states are also watching Texas’ abortion ban continue to be allowed by the courts. The Texas abortion ban, S.B. 8, is our nation’s most extreme abortion ban. The law bans abortion at six weeks, before most people know they are pregnant, and empowers private citizens to sue health care providers and private citizens who “aid and abet” an abortion.
(contributed press release, PPNCS)
