Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization established in 1942, began as an advocate for education in the areas of birth control, family planning, and reproductive health care.
Over the years, the organization has evolved into the largest single provider of abortions in the U.S. Five years ago, it began providing gender-affirming care.
“I’ve had many rewarding moments … when a person who was totally desperate, not knowing where to go and without the means to start their hormone treatment, came to us. And, fortunately, we have that service. I remember when he went and found out he could do it there. I saw him again and he gave me a hug. That’s very rewarding, knowing you are helping the community,” said Elizabeth Cortez, a part-time employee of Planned Parenthood.
The number of gender-affirming hormone therapy visits to Planned Parenthood tripled between 2021 and 2023, growing from 800 visits per year to more than 2,500.
The Free Press reports on detransitioners who are suing the organization, which has become one of the largest suppliers of testosterone in the country, for gender malpractice. Here’s the start of the story:
For Cristina Hineman, the situation felt urgent: the 17-year-old needed treatment at Planned Parenthood, where she knew she wouldn’t be subjected to humiliating questions, or an unnecessary waiting period, or lectures, or prying about her certainty. But it wasn’t an abortion she sought. It was testosterone.
Planned Parenthood was founded a century ago to promote birth control. Today, its nearly 600 clinics nationwide make it the largest single provider of abortion, contraception, reproductive care, and sex education in the U.S.
It has also, in less than a decade, become the country’s leading provider of gender transition hormones for young adults, according to insurance claim data. In 2015, around two dozen of their clinics began offering this service. Now it’s available at nearly 450 locations. Insurance claim information provided to The Free Press by the Manhattan Institute shows that at least 40,000 patients went to Planned Parenthood for this purpose last year alone, a number that has risen tenfold since 2017. The largest proportion, about 40 percent, were 18- to 22-year-olds.
Faced with her parents’ skepticism, Hineman waited to make an appointment for just after her 18th birthday in November 2021 at the Planned Parenthood in Hudson, NY. Some clinics offer hormones starting at age 16 with parental approval, but as a legal adult Hineman wouldn’t need their consent.