Photo by SergeyIT/Thinkstock
Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington is going to have a healthy contingent of participants from Richmond, and women’s health and reproductive rights are cited as a unifying principle for the event. Those rights, according to organizers, include access to birth control, HIV and AIDS care and prevention, and to reproductive healthcare services, including abortions. A major purveyor of reproductive health care in Virginia is the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood. Nationally, Planned Parenthood has been targeted by Republicans for cuts to its funding for years, and the defunding is likely to come up early in the Congressional session this year. With that in mind, we had an interview via email with David Timberline, director of communications for Virginia League for Planned Parenthood. Here’s what he had to say:
R•HEALTH: What does VLPP have planned, if anything, for the Saturday march?
David Timberline: We have arranged for several buses to transport a total of 150 supporters to the March from Hampton and Richmond. We have been receiving dozens of requests from additional supporters who want to come along, but unfortunately our buses are full. We'll be convening at the RFK [Stadium] parking lot with supporters from around the country for a pre-march rally.
RH: What’s the trend in terms of donations, one-time and continuing since the election? Have they tapered off since November, or are they continuing?
Timberline: There was a significant spike in donations after the election. Since then, the impending inauguration and the news from Congress about possibly defunding Planned Parenthood has continued to energize our supporters. For instance, during the March on Monument event last week (Jan. 14), hundreds of people chose to get a tattoo from Black Rabbit Tattoo, with [the] $20 [fee] going to VLPP. The effort resulted in more than a $5,000 being donated.
RH: What are the demographics of new contributors compared with the demographics of your regular contributors?
Timberline: We have not done comprehensive analysis of our new contributors yet, but I can tell you that, anecdotally, our new donors are trending younger. The result of the presidential election has made defunding Planned Parenthood a very real danger for the first time in some young people’s lives. As the Black Rabbit effort demonstrates, they have responded with an amazing amount of support.
RH: What kind of impact is the Richmond office seeing in terms of concerns over access to reproductive health care under the new administration?
Timberline: We have seen a significant uptick in our clients requesting long-term contraception options like IUDs. The threat of repealing the Affordable Care Act and the defunding of Planned Parenthood has made many Richmond residents afraid that they soon may not be able to afford birth control.
RH: What’s the takeaway here for Richmond residents? Why should they care about VLPP?
Timberline: For many of our clients in Richmond, VLPP is the only viable health care option. It’s easy to see the vendetta against Planned Parenthood as targeting an impersonal institution, but actually the impact will be to dramatically undermine the health of friends, neighbors and colleagues. It will disproportionately affect women of color, who use VLPP for cancer and STD screenings, causing potentially dire health outcomes down the road. By focusing on Planned Parenthood, legislators on both the state and federal level are meddling in one of most sensitive interactions there is: the relationship between a patient and his or her physician. When that relationship is damaged, it affects everyone.
HEALTHY DEVELOPMENTS
Health and fitness news of the week
- A community health fair is offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday (Jan. 25) at Virginia College in Richmond, 7200 Midlothian Turnpike. The event features giveaways, health screenings including blood pressure checks and glucose checks, and manicures and pedicures by school students.
