​The fight for women’s rights can be dated back to 1848 when the first women’s right’s convention took place in Seneca Falls, New York. More specially, women’s health rights can be dated back as far as 1923 when a woman named Margaret Sanger opened the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau in Manhattan and began studies on birth control and it’s effectiveness. Her finding would later pave the road to the present day Planned Parenthood.

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Roe vs. Wade, 1973, became the real catalyst for women’s health rights. This court case opened doors for women that were never there before. This includes women’s rights for privacy and the option to have an abortion.​
 

In 1987, President Reagan enforces a “gag rule” which forbids clinics to distribute any information about abortion to its patients even if it means the potential mother could be harmed. In response, a Dr.Irving Rust argues that the withdrawal of federal funds from clinics that provide abortion counseling is an infringement of a physician's right to freedom of speech. The court disagrees and the gag rule stays enforced.
In 1989, Planned Parenthood takes a stand against President George H.W Bush’s continuation of Reagan’s enforcement’s. In partnership with the National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood and hundreds of thousands of people gather in Washington, DC for, what would be the first of many protests.​
 

It is not until 1993 that President Clinton repeals the Title X gag rule. During Clinton’s presidency advances and options in women’s contraceptives became available. Women are making strides with their healthcare and their rights until 2001 when President George W. Bush, on his first full day in office, re-enforces the gag rule sending American’s into an uproar. Americans donate $600,000 to Planned Parenthood in addition to writing 30,000 letters to Bush. At the end of that year thousands of American’s donate their tax rebates to Planned Parenthood. by March of 2001, the Court rules in Ferguson v.City of Charleston that women are entitled to the same rights as all Americans to seek medical services without fear of prosecution of invasion of doctor-patient confidentiality.



Women have truly come a long way and have fought hard for the rights and care they deserve. The history of Planned Parenthood is closely entwined with the perseverance of women that never took no for an answer. Just as well, the future of Planned Parenthood depends on the choices we make today to provide appropriate healthcare for our mothers, sisters, aunts, or daughters. It is our job to continue the timeline of Planned Parenthood with the same strive that people had before us to protect our women.