DALLAS – Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Faye Wattleton of the Center for the Advancement of Women and Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice, participated in a panel discussion during the Planned Parenthood of North Texas (PPNT) Annual Awards Luncheon, today at Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas. ABC news anchor, Forrest Sawyer served as moderator.

More than 1,500 PPNT supporters gathered at the luncheon to honor local individuals who have strengthened awareness of women's health, celebrate PPNT's 71 years in Dallas and hear the panelists' discuss the future of women's health and rights. Nearly $500,000 was raised to provide health care to the more than 87,000 patients PPNT sees annually – most of whom have no other health care provider.

Awards were presented including the Katherine Ripley Awards for education, print journalism and electronic journalism as well as the Gertrude Shelburne Humanitarian of the Year Award and the Volunteer of the Year Award. These awards honor an individual's contribution to enhancing awareness of women's health care and their strides to improve community health.

Winners of the Katherine Ripley Awards are:

• Print Journalism – Columnist Steve Blow, The Dallas Morning News
  
• Electronic Journalism – Reporter/Producer Sujata Dand, KERA/Channel 13
  
• Education – Coordinator of Adolescent Pregnancy Services, Nina Jackson, Fort Worth ISD
  
• Gertrude Shelburne Humanitarian Award: Bryant "Tim" Hanley, Jr.
  
• Gertrude Shelburne Volunteers of the Year: Margot and Katherine Perot

Co-chairing the 2006 Annual Awards Luncheon were Karen Katz and Maryann Mihalopoulos.

Luncheon Participant Biographies:

Christine Todd Whitman is the President of The Whitman Strategy Group, a management consulting/strategic planning partnership servicing both government and business clients. She served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from January of 2001 until June of 2003. Governor Whitman was the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, serving as its first woman governor from 1994 until 2001.

Faye Wattleton is the president of the Center for the Advancement of Women, an independent, nonpartisan non-profit research and education institution dedicated to advocating for the advancement of women. From 1978 to 1992, Ms. Wattleton served as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA).

Frances Kissling has been where news is made for over twenty-five years. In the 1970s, she directed one of the first family planning clinics to provide legal abortions in the United States; in the 1980s, she became director of the controversial but respected organization Catholics for a Free Choice; and today Ms. Kissling is known around the world as a leader in the international reproductive health and feminist religious movements.

Forrest Sawyer is one of America's most respected television journalists, with over 24 years of experience reporting from around the world. He is a veteran of ABC, CBS, and MSNBC.  He has anchored the ABC magazine programs Day One and Turning Point, as well as World News Sunday, and Good Morning America. For a decade, Mr. Sawyer was the primary replacement anchor on ABC's Nightline.

PPNT's 28 clinics across North Texas provide a wide range of low cost services including breast and cervical cancer screening, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, family planning education and referrals for prenatal and social services in the community. PPNT also provides community education programs to more than 10,000 individuals annually. With other affiliates, Planned Parenthood provides more cervical cancer screenings than any other organization in the country.

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Celebrating 70 years of providing compassionate health care for North Texas communities.  (1935-2005)