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Planned Parenthood Comments on Holly Benson Appointment

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2.12.08 

Putting prevention first leads to healthy Florida families

Sarasota, FL – Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates looks forward to working with newly appointed Holly Benson in her role as the Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to put prevention first.   AHCA oversees health care facilities and providers, as well as the Medicaid program, which provides reproductive health care and family planning services to thousands of Florida women.

“The best way to prevent unintended pregnancies and promote healthy families is to ensure more women and families have access to affordable, quality reproductive health care and comprehensive sex education programs,” said Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates Executive Director, Adrienne Kimmell. “Planned Parenthood looks forward to working with Holly Benson and AHCA to take positive steps towards reducing unintended pregnancy in Florida.”

According to the Guttmacher Institute, in Florida, 1,726,160 women are in need of contraceptive services and supplies. Of these, 886,250 women need publicly supported contraceptive services.   Increasing access to affordable birth control and health care services is critical to preventing unintended pregnancy and encouraging healthy families. 

While Planned Parenthood is disappointed that Benson has voted to restrict access to reproductive health care during her tenure as a state legislature, they hope to work towards the common goal of reducing unintended pregnancy and promoting healthier Florida families.

“Prevention builds healthy families by reducing the number of unintended pregnancies through increasing access to health care, including birth control,” said Kimmell. “Preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing the need for abortion is something we can all agree on.”

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The Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates (FAPPA) is the state public policy office representing Florida’s seven Planned Parenthood affiliates with 27 health care centers across the state.  FAPPA works to advance public policy in areas of reproductive health care, family planning and medically-accurate sex education in order to make comprehensive reproductive health care available to all.