Planned Parenthood of Alabama is an affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the nation's largest, oldest and most trusted birth control and cancer screening agency. Founded 75 years ago in Birmingham, Planned Parenthood of Alabama has grown to serve all of Alabama, with centers in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile. The Birmingham center is pictured at the left. Planned Parenthood of Alabama also serves Southeast Mississippi with a center in Hattiesburg, and the Florida panhandle with educational progams in Pensacola. Planned Parenthood of Alabama works in three important areas: providing medical services; providing sexuality and reproductive health education; and, advocacy.

Medical Services

Part of our mission, to insure that "every child is a wanted child," includes offering annual gynecological exams, cancer screening (pap smears and breast exams), birth control, screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, testing for HIV, vasectomies (male sterilization), emergency contraception (also known as the morning after pill), pregnancy tests, and abortion services.

Education Programs

We also believe that young people need and deserve accurate, complete and unbiased information about reproductive health and sexuality, in addition to abstinence education. Our educators visit schools, places of worship, civic groups, health fairs, and street fairs each year, reaching thousands of young people. Our Facts of Life Line, an automated telephone message system with 80 messages on virtually every aspect of reproductive health, receives thousands of calls each year; and, our interactive Quiz Show attracts young and old at street fairs and health fairs, entertaining and educating them.

Advocacy

Personal decisions about pregnancy and parenthood should be just that: personal. Planned Parenthood of Alabama works, each year in Mississippi and Alabama, to ensure that people can make these decisions free from government interference. We work to keep abortion safe, accessible and legal. We work to increase funding for family planning and reproductive health education programs. We work to find better, more effective treatments for infections and methods of birth control.