Mothers, Can you afford to have a large family?
Do you want any more children?
If not, why do you have them?
Do not kill. Do not take life, but prevent.
Safe, harmless information can be obtained by trained nurses.

46 Amboy Street
Near Pitkin Avenue
Brooklyn

This message, printed on five thousand handbills and distributed by Margaret Sanger and her cohorts in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York in 1916, established the mission of the first Planned Parenthood and all subsequent affiliates: to ensure that conception occurs by choice, not chance.

With this mission in mind, for nearly a century Planned Parenthood affiliates have offered family planning medical services and birth control instruction in clinic settings and reproductive health care education programs throughout communities in this nation and abroad. In both Dallas (1935) and Fort Worth (1938), volunteers, inspired by Margaret Sanger¹s work, formed maternal health leagues and affiliated with the American Birth Control League, the forerunner of Planned Parenthood, to provide information and contraceptives to low income, married women in North Texas. In both communities, volunteer physicians provided the services.

In 1941, Mrs. Sanger’s American Birth Control League adopted a new name: Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). The maternal health leagues of both Dallas and Fort Worth joined the Planned Parenthood Family, and for the remainder of the twentieth century operated as separate affiliates, offering reproductive health care, education and advocating for the right of individuals to decide whether and when to have a child.

The Fort Worth affiliate enjoyed an uninterrupted history of continuing growth. In 1943, the agency hired its first full-time, paid staff member, a registered nurse. For the next twenty years, in addition to birth control, the agency provided educational services. By 1963, the Fort Wort affiliate was providing education to every post-partum woman at John Peter Smith Hospital. When the 1970¹s brought federal funding, through the Title X program, the Fort Worth affiliate enjoyed rapid expansion, both in services and in the number of clinic locations. It was during this time that a building fund drive made possible the purchase of the South Henderson clinic.

In 1979, the Dallas affiliate, Planned Parenthood of Northeast Texas, withdrew as an affiliate of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, changing its name to Life Planning/Health Services (LP/HS), with the intention of expanding its continuum of care. At that time, Planned Parenthood of Fort Worth changed its name to Planned Parenthood of North Texas, but the Fort Worth affiliate was not in a position to offer services in Dallas County.

By 1981, a small group of volunteers, concerned about the absence of a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Dallas, incorporated as Planned Parenthood of Greater Dallas (PPGD), a private, not-for-profit corporation. By June 1982, PPGD opened its Shelburne clinic, seeing five clients on its first day of business. By the end of September, the clinic was breaking even on expenses, which enabled the PPGD board to proceed confidently with the construction of additional clinics.

PPGD found its niche, serving marginally employed uninsured and under insured women who could not afford private health care. By 1983, the Community Education Program was an integral part of affiliate services, as well.

All during the 80’s, both affiliates enjoyed rapid growth. The Fort Worth affiliate, serving clients in Tarrant County primarily with federal funding, grew to be among the fifty largest affiliates in the nation. In Dallas, Planned Parenthood of Greater Dallas continued to grow, and in 1986, it changed its name to Planned Parenthood of Dallas and Northeast Texas (PPDNET) to reflect its growth outside Dallas County.

In 1992, PPDNET assumed responsibility for clinic services offered in Tyler, Texas, bringing the number of clinics to nine, and introducing federal funding, through the Title XX program. At the same time, in response to decreasing federal funding, the Fort Worth affiliate began to shift some of its clinics to fee for service. In 1994, PPDNET introduced abortion services, and in 1995 the Fort Worth affiliate also became an abortion provider.

In 1995, PPDNET acquired seven clinics, formerly operated by LP/HS. With the acquisition of those clinics, PPDNET reclaimed its history and reunified the agency. In 1997, PPDNET faced possible eviction from the building housing its administrative offices and surgi-center. In response to that crisis, its board of directors launched a capital campaign, raising $5.1 million to purchase the building, buy some needed equipment and create an endowment to assist with the maintenance of the building and the clinics.

By the end of the century, the Dallas affiliate was operating 19 clinics throughout Northeast Texas, and the Fort Worth affiliate was operating eight clinics in Tarrant and Johnson Counties.

In 1999, the Fort Worth affiliate was faced with the loss of several management staff. It provided the board of directors an opportunity to assess the future of the agency, as it faced the rapid changes in the provision of health care. PPDNET agreed to manage the Fort Worth affiliate’s clinics, and the boards of the two organizations began strategic planning for the future of reproductive health care in North Texas. On March 31, 2000, the two affiliates formally merged. The combined 27 clinics will serve more than 65,000 clients annually in 13 North Texas counties. The new affiliate can better impact education and be a stronger advocate for the clients who use Planned Parenthood’s services.

The combined Planned Parenthood of North Texas (PPNT) publicly debuted on April 6, 2000. The corporate headquarters are in Dallas, in the building purchased by the capital campaign, with an educational and volunteer center located in Fort Worth. PPNT, serving all of North Texas, has become the tenth largest affiliate in the nation.

PPNT continues to serve as a national model for Planned Parenthood Federation of America for the successful management of the non-federally funded clinics, supported primarily through client fees, foundation grants and private contributions. It demonstrates a successful blend of private and government support. The agency does not receive United Way support. No one is denied service because of his/her inability to pay.

PPNT enters the new millennium as a well managed service provider, meeting reproductive health needs for men and women and North Texans as an outstanding community resource for sexuality education.