President Obama at the Planned Parenthood National Conference
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
President Obama became the first sitting president ever to address a
Planned Parenthood event this morning, speaking at the health care
group's national conference.
From the Transcript of prepared remarks (excerpt):
[O]bviously this is a special national conference, because it’s been
nearly a hundred years since the first health clinic of what later would
become Planned Parenthood opened its doors to women in Brooklyn. And
for nearly a century now, one core principle has guided everything all
of you do — that women should be allowed to make their own decisions
about their own health. (Applause.) It’s a simple principle.
So what I see in this audience, extraordinary doctors and nurses, and
advocates and staff who work tirelessly to keep the doors at health
centers all across the country going, then I'm reminded of those very
early efforts and all the strides that we've made in subsequent
decades. And I also think about the millions of mothers and daughters
and wives and sisters, friends and neighbors who walk through those
doors every year.
Somewhere there’s a woman who just received a new lease on life
because of a screening that you provided that helped catch her cancer in
time. Somewhere there’s a woman who’s breathing easier today because
of the support and counseling she got at her local Planned Parenthood
health clinic. Somewhere there’s a young woman starting a career who,
because of you, is able to decide for herself when she wants to start a
family. (Applause.)
One in five women in this country has turned to Planned Parenthood for
health care. One in five. (Applause.) And for many, Planned
Parenthood is their primary source of health care — not just for
contraceptive care, but for lifesaving preventive care, like cancer
screenings and health counseling.