Guests to discuss the fight for reproductive freedom before Roe v. Wade at PPGP event

Planned Parenthood Great Plains (PPGP) is thrilled to announce reproductive health trailblazers Laura Kaplan and Martha Scott as the speakers for its CHOICES luncheon on Thursday, October 17, at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. Kaplan and Scott were members of Jane, an underground network in Chicago that provided counseling, support, and abortion services before it was legal and safe in the U.S. Planned Parenthood supporters are invited to hear about their fight for reproductive freedom before Roe v. Wade.

Serving as an annual fundraiser to support the essential sexual and reproductive health care Planned Parenthood Great Plains provides to its more than 10,000 patients each year in Oklahoma, this year’s CHOICES is taking on a new format and will feature a plated luncheon and inspirational message. 

“CHOICES is an opportunity for our community to come together and hear an important message from two sexual and reproductive health pioneers as we prepare to fight unprecedented attacks on reproductive health care in our state,” Tamya Cox-Toure, Planned Parenthood Great Plains regional director of public policy and organizing, said. “Planned Parenthood has always been on the front line of providing sexual and reproductive health care, as well as protecting the right to access the care we provide. With our community’s support, we will continue to do so.”

Kaplan is the author of The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service. A life-long activist, she was a founding member of a women’s health clinic, a lay midwife, an advocate for women who have experienced domestic violence, and an advocate for nursing home residents. She has worked on public policy for patients covered by managed care plans and served on the board of National Women's Health Network. She is a Medicare counselor for her local Office for the Aging in New York, and since the 2016 election, she has been working on immigrant rights and criminal justice inequities.

Following Scott’s time in Jane, she chased after her interest in social activism, spending subsequent years focused on education and health care. Scott helped set up a well women’s clinic in Chicago and taught classes in public middle and high school. The present threat to women’s power status has renewed her interest in being a spokesperson for women’s rights.

The CHOICES 2019 Luncheon will begin at 12 p.m. with a VIP cocktail reception at 11 a.m. General admission doors will open at 11:30 a.m. Valet parking will be complimentary and the dress code is business casual. Tickets start at $50 and sponsorships are available. For more information about CHOICES and to purchase tickets visit: www.partyforpp.org/2019-choices.

The Gayly. 10/07/2019 @ 7:11 p.m. CST.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains has been a leading provider of sexual and reproductive health care for nearly 85 years, serving women, men, and families in communities across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Each year, we provide care to nearly 30,000 people in our 11 health centers and reach nearly 5,500 people through our comprehensive sex education programming. We believe that every person deserves to have access to the resources and information they need in order to make decisions about their own health.