A nonprofit organization is a private corporation that works for the public’s benefit but is separate and independent from government”(Partee, 2001 p 31). Other areas and industries that nonprofit organizations operate and strive to improve the life quality in various communities. One nonprofit organization that existence has continued to be one of political and social uproar is Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood was established over 100 years ago by Margaret Sanger and has been providing women with various services to assist in making various decisions related to their fruitfulness. In 1916 despite the adversary, legal ramifications, social scrutiny related to contraceptives and birth control, Margaret Sanger and two of her companions opened the first birth control clinic in New York. The population that was predominantly serviced was underprivileged immigrant women. After its secret operation was discovered, the clinic was shut down after the authorities search and seized the property. As a result, Sanger and her associates were arrested and convicted for illegally distributing birth control information to the public(Inc., 2014). Sanger was not discouraged from the aforementioned events, she continued to strive to make her vision of educating and empowering women about their bodies, sexual education, and choices and later created the first scientific journal geared toward contraception called the Birth Control Review. In addition, Sanger appealed her conviction and changes the perspectives and legal ramifications of New York’s contraceptive statue. In 1923 Sanger opened the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau, and the American Birth Control League is incorporated. Shortly thereafter the two organizations are combined to later become Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. Planned Parenthood’s mission is “(A) To provide comprehensive reproductive and complementary health care services in settings which preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual (B) to advocate public policies which guarantee these rights and ensure access to such services (C) to provide educational programs which enhance understanding of individual and societal implications of human sexuality. (D) to promote research and the advancement of technology in reproductive health care and encourage understanding of their inherent bioethical, behavioral, and social implications” (Inc., 2014). The mission embraces women’s sexual education, and choices about their ability to or not to bear children. In this paper, Planned Parenthood Federation of America will be thoroughly evaluated and the historical challenges and adversaries faced by the organization, the current issues that the organization is experiencing, how management and the board of directors can continue to provide service to women regardless of current political and social scrutiny of the organization, and how the board can implement the 3 D’s.
Historical Challenges of Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc.
Lack of Recognition
In the late 1800’s Connecticut was ran by a religious politician that did not embrace the ideals of sex, birth control, or abortions. As a result, Comstock Act was passed to regulate and prevent the distribution of any offensive, obscene and unorthodox materials through the postal service (Slachetka, 2008). The Comstock Act continued to be the main legal statue that denounced birth control and ideas for contraceptives for 63 years before Margaret Sanger challenged its existence by advocating against unplanned pregnancies and the detrimental effects that unwanted pregnancies can have on women’s physical, psychological, and social well being. The Griswald vs. Connecticut case as the catalyst that lifted the ban on contraceptives. After seven years, preceding cases in Massachusetts granted permission for married couple to use contraceptives as a pregnancy preventive measure, but violated single persons right to be afforded the same privacy right. A result, Justice Brennan ruled that unmarried persons should not be treated indifferently and therefore “expanded the idea of privacy as a fundamental constitutional right”(Slachetka, 2008). Planned Parenthood’ determination to educated the public on the importance of contraceptives helped to concur several legal limitations that had been previously implemented before the organization’s creation. Planned Parenthood also placed a value on recognizing the benefits of contraceptives for persons that were married and single. Hence, Planned Parenthood has been an organization that has challenged political and social factors that hindered women from making independent fertility choices, and change perspective of the public in relation to recognizing the need for contraceptive choices.
Acceptance the Rationale of Contraceptives and Freedom of Choice for Women
Acceptance and significance of contraceptives and freedom of choice for women became more widespread after the Roe v. Wade case. This was the first case where abortion was accepted and extended beyond the reasons of an unwanted pregnancy due to rape, incest, or fetal defect. In addition, Roe v. Wade also highlighted how societal perspectives, and times were changing and laws could not be applied in the same manner. According to Planned Parenthood Federation of America(2014) “the Supreme Court noted in 1992 that “the ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives”(Inc., 2014). The right to dictate decisions to one’s personal anatomy and well being is one that is equivalent to the right to vote. Its significance shows that women’s choices and opinions are valued and should not be prohibited regardless of the various views on the subject matter. It is also significant because it indicates the importance of constitutional rights for women and the right to make informed decisions related to their own health. Hence past legal rulings have played a significant role in campaigning and advocating for women’s constitutional rights, and health decisions pertaining to contraceptive choices.
Current Issues at Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc.
Since 2015 Planned Parenthood has been a popular organization and topic in the 2016 presidential debate that is being scrutinized for conducting medical research on aborted fetuses and conducting business that is geared more toward profitability than providing services to the community.
Presidential Debate 2016
After the release of several sing videos in the summer of 2015 allegations against Planned Parenthood indicated that the organization sold fetal tissue for medical research. Planned Parenthood has been the topic of the presidential debate and in its defense the Republican Party has made several attempts to highlight the positive services and aspects of the organization. More specifically, the Republican Party has stated that Planned Parenthood is an option for lower income individuals to receive healthcare that is affordable and accessible. Without Planned Parenthood an increase in unwanted pregnancies, increase in persons with sexually transmitted diseases and conditions, and a reduction in sexual education will occur. In addition, both Republican and Democratic political parties have raised the issue of using federal funds to support Planned Parenthood in an effort to discredit and denounce the organization; while concurrently trying to gain the publics votes. According to Montanaro and McCammon(2015) “Republicans saw an opening after the videos were released in July, but polling has shown that views of Planned Parenthood haven't budged since then. And for Democrats, running campaigns that overemphasize the issue have backfired in the past”. It then becomes questionable is addressing “Fetal testing” is abut the morality of the situation or is it being evaluated to gain the public’ interest. Both political parties are not focused on the larger issues tat are related to fetal tissue testing, the major concern is wing the next presidential election and using Planned Parenthood, or any other entity to accomplish this goal. Hence, the current event that has been so popular and in the presidential 2016 debate is also the head of the Republican and Democratic Parties’ campaign for presidency.
Business Ethics Dilemma
Since Cecile Richards 2005 election to Planned Parenthood presidency there have been drastic decreases in several of the services that Planned Parenthood offers but there has been a record high increase in the amount of abortions that Planned Parenthood performs on a daily and annual basis. Services such as cancer and preventive care funding had been greatly reduce year after year. As a result, revenue that was generated and the amount of abortions skyrocketed. Planned Parenthood has also been criticized for using tax payer money to fund the aforementioned medical research. Empirical research has projected that tax payers have contributed 3.6 billion dollars to Planned Parenthood over a 10 year period. In other words tax payers have contributed approximately 1.26 million dollars a day to the organization, which is a total of 40 % of Planned Parenthood’s annual revenue(American United Life, 2015). With nearly half of its revenue coming from the same low income communities that its services it is easy for politicians to use the organization as an example of conducting unethical business and promoting morale dilemmas. From the current discoveries of medical research on unborn fetuses to Planned Parenthood’s marketing campaign and costs “ Planned parenthood’s big Abortion Profits trajectory began before Cecile Richards’ took the helm. Under her leadership, however, Planned Parenthood’s course has been clearly more abortion focused”(American United Life, 2015). There are several grey areas in Planned Parenthood’s business operations where executive decision to make budget cuts have been made but no rationale for why these actions are of necessity. It is unclear where the funds that were reduced for preventive care and cancer were dispersed throughout the organization. Hence, Planned Parenthood appears to be an organization that serves underprivileged women in low income communities but their business ethics are questionable and heavily scrutinized by politicians and activist groups.
Management and the Board of Directors Strategies for Serving Clients in the time of Heavy Scrutiny
Since the attack by politicians and the threat of no longer funding Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards’ and other board members and upper level management have made several efforts to educate the court, public, and politicians on the detrimental effects that discontinuing healthcare access for several women can have on society. Primarily through education and a sense of transparency Planned Parenthood has made public appearances, used their website to educate and fight against losing their federal support, and has influenced several protests regarding this matter, One of the most scrutinized appearance was made be Cecile Richards’ when he testified in court on September 30, 2015. In her testimony Cecile Richards did not deny the medical research that was being conducted on fetal tissue; instead she contorted that the research was being conducted and not only is the research legal based on laws that had been passed and implemented by the senate in 1993, but the research that is being conducted on fetal tissue is a life saving measure. In addition, to the aforementioned Cecile Richards also expressed how distasteful it is for politicians and activity groups to threaten to deny women medical care that promotes and increases the quality of life. In essence, denying Planned Parenthood the necessary funds to provide efficient and low cost healthcare to those in need is equivalent subjecting psychological harm on people who are being forced into an unwanted situation. Hence, providing the public with the significant pertaining to Planned through honest measures exposes the negative campaigning that is occurring in the presidential debate of 2016 and also provides a rationale for where some of the unaccounted funds have gone to.
Another strategy that is practiced by the board of directors at Planned Parenthood is transparency. In their annual reports, Planned Parenthood makes it a point to provide the amount of services that were provided to various communities and how the access to these services have had a positive impact in promoting healthy communities. This same transparency was made evident in the court hearing to continue federal funding for the organization. Cecile Richards; specified the impact that a lost of funding will have on operational existence. It is understandable, if federal funding were stripped from Planned Parenthood then 40% of its annual revenue would seize. That type of impact is impossible to continue servicing the community let alone continue to operate at all. It was also significant to exposing political charades and the position of Planned Parenthood has in communal leadership when Cecile Richards’ stated “ People are seeing it sort of as a political attempt," she said. "It's a political stunt. It's not something they're sinking their teeth into. They're not changing their minds about Planned Parenthood.". The perception of abortion was once thought to be an abomination and was illegal is know considered to be a debate that has negative and positive influences on peoples perspectives of the subject. Hence, Planned Parenthood’s openness and communicative efforts has play a significant role in fighting to keep federal funding.
Implementing the Three D’s
The three D’s in management of an organization play a significant role in the directing, discussing, and delegating tasks. In Planned Parenthood the board of directors can use all three of the D’s to overcome current adversaries, discuss challenges that they may encounter in the future, and to delegate tasks that encourage employees to be more productive in the organization. Directing is a style that has and continue to be used when Planned Parenthood is under scrutiny. In future endeavors directing will also be used to communicate to the public and educate them on choice, birth control, and various health screenings. Planed Parenthood Board of Directors can elect to us various forms of communication to attract, appeal, and educate people about what Planned Parenthood truly represents. Through, the company’s website, social media, newspapers, and advertisements; Planned Parenthood can achieve organizational goals. Discussing challenges that are faced in Planned Parenthood gives the organization and it management the opportunity to discover and research strategies that can help to ameliorate the negative impact that negative publicity and groups can have on organizational l success. For Planned Parenthood a research and development department will be beneficial to the organization because information that is collected from clients and patients can be used in developing a more accurate performance monitoring system. Discussion can also enhance organizational creativity and helps employees to add value to the organization be contributing opinions, suggestion, and innovation. Lastly, delegating can be used to align organizational goals with organizational culture. This is significant because employees that have a strong belief and a sense of belonging will continue t be productive despite the controversial issues that are presented to Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Hence the three D’s are essential tools that can be used by managers and the board of directors to build strong relationships by defining tasks for subordinate employees, discussing how organizational issues can be ameliorated, and job responsibilities can be identified.
Conclusion
Planned parenthood has been presented with several challenge presented by political, social, and legal entities. Though the end results were not always desirable, Margaret Sanger dedicated her life and the mission of Planned Parenthood Federation of America to ensure that women were allowed to make choice related to their female anatomy and reproductive system. From a historical standpoint, most of the challenge associated with Planned Parenthood was related to a lack of recognition, and acceptance and significance of contraceptives and freedom of choice for women. In the late 1800’s Connecticut was ran by a religious politician that did not embrace the ideals of sex, birth control, or abortions. Acceptance and significance of contraceptives and freedom of choice for women became more widespread after the Roe v. Wade case. Since 2015 Planned Parenthood has been a popular organization and topic in the 2016 presidential debate that is being scrutinized for conducting medical research on aborted fetuses and conducting business that is geared more toward profitability than providing services to the community. After the release of several sing videos in the summer of 2015 allegations against Planned Parenthood indicate that the organization sold fetal tissue for medical research. Since Cecile Richards 2005 election to Planned Parenthood presidency there have been drastic decreases in several of the services that Planned Parenthood offers but there has been a record high increase in the amount of abortions that Planned Parenthood performs on a daily and annual basis. Services such as cancer and preventive care funding had been greatly reduce year after year. Since the attack by politicians and the threat of no longer funding Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards’ and other board members and upper level management have made several efforts to educate the court, public, and politicians on the detrimental effects that discontinuing healthcare access for several women can have on society. Another strategy that is practiced by the board of directors at Planned Parenthood is transparency. In their annual reports, Planned Parenthood makes it a point to provide the amount of services that were provided to various communities and how the access to these services have had a positive impact in promoting healthy communities. The three D’s in management of an organization play a significant role in the directing, discussing, and delegating tasks. Among management and throughout the organization.
Works Cited
Inc., Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Planned Parenthood. 2014. 18 February 2016 <https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/mission>.
Montanaro, Demenico and Sarah McCammon. "A Warning To Both Parties On Planned Parenthood And Abortion." 30 September 2015. NPR. 17 February 2016 <http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/09/30/444777841/a-warning-to-both-parties-on-planned-parenthood-and-abortion>.
Slachetka, Michelle. "Getting to Plan B: A History of Contraceptive Rights in the United States and an Argument for a Private Right of Action Against the FDA." William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 16.1 (2008): 345-379.
