Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) delivers vital health care services, sex education, and sexual health information to millions of women, men, and young people. As stated in their website, they “deliver comprehensive and medically accurate information that empowers women, men, teens, and families to make informed choices and lead healthy lives. Planned Parenthood is proud of its vital role in providing young people with honest sexuality and relationship information in classrooms and online”.

If we are to evaluate their services and advocacy based on the criteria of evaluating the merit of benefit types, we can say that their services cater to the idea of consumer sovereignty. This benefit type is basically focused on providing choices to the consumer or target market of Planned Parenthood’s services. The organization basically advocates a Pro-Choice approach when it comes to birth control methods which runs counter to many principles advocated by religious groups.

Planned Parenthood’s approach basically counters the idea of coercion and intrusion into the privacy lives of individuals, basically in making choices about birth control methods, sex education, and women’s health. However, this kind of liberalistic thinking is unacceptable in some cultures. Thus, although the organization promotes the improvement of the sexual health and well-being of individuals and families globally, their actions run counter to conservative cultures and organizations (especially the churches).
Although it has local partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean their advocacy for promoting women’s choice when it comes to birth control makes them a bitter opponent against the establishment. Their vocal and outspoken global partners are considered to be intruding already into the privacy of families and society in general. That somehow dilutes the benefits that are provided by the organization to the public, by shifting the focus of the public from the benefits of their advocacy to the harmful effects of their group’s activist actions.