Our Policy Positions

Abortion Access

Planned Parenthood believes every woman should have access to the full range of reproductive health care.

Our primary goal is prevention — reducing the number of unintended pregnancies, especially the alarmingly high number of teenage pregnancies, in the United States. At the same time, to protect their health and the health of their families, women facing an unintended pregnancy must have access to safe, legal abortion services without interference from the government. Decisions about childbearing should be made by a woman in consultation with her family and doctor — not by politicians.

Access to abortion is legal, constitutionally protected, and consistently supported by a majority of Americans; yet anti-choice organizations and policymakers have made it increasingly harder for women to access needed care. Anti-choice hardliners erode access to abortion through court battles, ballot measures, and burdensome legislative restrictions on abortion services — some extremists even resort to intimidation, harassment, and violence against women and health care providers.

Planned Parenthood fights these anti-choice efforts on every level. From courthouses to statehouses to Capitol Hill to the grassroots, Planned Parenthood works to protect access to reproductive health care through education of elected officials, litigation, and mobilization of more than four million Planned Parenthood activists, donors, and supporters.

Learn More About Abortion Access