Guttmacher Institute

Last updated
Guttmacher Institute
Formation1968;56 years ago (1968) (as Center for Family Planning Program Development)
TypeNGO
Purpose reproductive health, birth control
Region served
United States and globally
Interim Co-CEOs
 Jonathan Wittenberg and Destiny Lopez
Budget
$19 million
Website guttmacher.org

The Guttmacher Institute is a research and policy NGO that aims to improve sexual health and expand reproductive rights worldwide. [1] [2] The organization was started in 1968 and functions as both a research and educational organization. [3] [4] It operates mainly in the United States but also focuses on developing countries. [4] Founded as part of Planned Parenthood, the Guttmacher Institute became independent from Planned Parenthood in 2007.

Contents

The institute is named after obstetrician-gynecologist and former president of Planned Parenthood Alan F. Guttmacher. [5] The Guttmacher Institute has many sources of funding nationally and internationally. [4] One of its projects is keeping a running list of the reproductive health laws and policies throughout the United States. [4] The former CEO Dr. Herminia Palacio left the Institute in late 2023. The Institute adopted an interim co-leadership model in early 2024, while the Board of Directors searches for permanent leadership. Jonathan Wittenberg and Destiny Lopez are currently interim Co-CEOs. [6]

History

Founded in 1968, the Guttmacher Institute was originally called the Center for Family Planning Program Development and was a branch of Planned Parenthood. [5] After Alan Guttmacher's death, the Center for Family Planning Program Development was renamed and became an independent non-profit organization. [5] In 2007, the organization officially split from Planned Parenthood. [3]

Activities

The Guttmacher Institute continually monitors state and national laws and policies about contraception and abortion. The institute records the restrictions on reproductive health that different states have put in place. The organization also keeps data about how teens are affected by pregnancy and the number of teens who use contraception. [4] Internationally, the Guttmacher Institute uses statistical models to give an approximation of the number of abortions in places where they are illegal and/or the abortions happen outside of formal health care settings. [4]

In 2013, the Guttmacher Institute was awarded a Population Center grant by the US National Institutes of Health in support its Center for Population Research Innovation and Dissemination. [4] The Guttmacher Institute has received Charity Navigator's highest (4-Star) rating annually since 2010. [7]

Funding

When the institute was founded in 1968 its parent organization, Planned Parenthood, was its sole source of its funding. [3] Three years after becoming independent in 2007, the organization received less than 1% of its funding from Planned Parenthood in 2010. [3] Now, most of the funding is gained through private foundations based in the United States. Other funding comes from international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Bank. [4] The Guttmacher Institute was awarded $3.9 million between 1986 and 2015 by the MacArthur Foundation, including 13 grants in population and reproductive health. [8]

Nonpartisanship

The Guttmacher Institute is not affiliated with a political party, and so it is nonpartisan in the strict sense of the word. The group work to "ensure that all women are able to exercise their reproductive rights and responsibilities", which puts them among advocates of abortion rights. According to FactCheck , Guttmacher "provides the most highly respected statistics on the sexual health of women and men. Its figures on abortion are widely cited by the media as well as by groups on both sides of the political aisle." [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family planning</span> Planning when to have children

Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marital situation, career or work considerations, financial situations. If sexually active, family planning may involve the use of contraception and other techniques to control the timing of reproduction.

The Mexico City policy, sometimes referred to by its critics as the global gag rule, is a former United States government policy that blocked U.S. federal funding for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provided abortion counseling or referrals, advocated to decriminalize abortion, or expanded abortion services. When in effect, the Mexico City policy is a U.S. government policy that requires foreign non-governmental organizations to certify that they will not "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning" with non-U.S. funds as a condition for receiving U.S. global family planning assistance, and during its January 23, 2017 implementation any other U.S. global health assistance, including U.S. global HIV and maternal and child health (MCH) assistance.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides reproductive and sexual healthcare, and sexual education in the United States and globally. It is a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Life League</span> American Catholic organization

American Life League, Inc. (ALL) is an American Catholic activist organization which opposes abortion, all forms of contraception, embryonic stem cell research, and euthanasia. Its current president is co-founder Judie Brown and its headquarters is in Stafford, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan G. Komen for the Cure</span> American non-profit organization

Susan G. Komen is a breast cancer organization in the United States.

The Population Research Institute (PRI) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Front Royal, Virginia, US. The organization opposes abortion. They believe that overpopulation is a myth, and oppose hormonal birth control in females and vasectomies in males. In addition, the organization issues opinion pieces questioning the veracity of human driven climate change and the natural origin of COVID-19.

An abortion fund is a non-profit organization that provides financial and logistical assistance to individuals who cannot afford the costs of an abortion. Abortion funds play a role in financing abortion services in countries where abortion is legal but not accessible. For example, health insurance may not cover abortion or transportation to abortion clinics may be financially or logistically infeasible. Abortion funds also provide assistance in cities, states, provinces or countries where abortion is illegal and women travel elsewhere to obtain a legal abortion.

Abortion is illegal in the Philippines.

The Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970 is the only federal grant program dedicated to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services. It was signed into law under President Richard Nixon on December 24, 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Reproductive Rights</span> American non-profit organization

The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) is a global legal advocacy organization, headquartered in New York City, that seeks to advance reproductive rights, such as abortion. The organization's stated mission is to "use the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right that all governments are legally obligated to protect, respect, and fulfill." Founded by Janet Benshoof in 1992, its original name was the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birth control in the United States</span> History of birth control in the United States

Birth control in the United States is available in many forms. Some of the forms available at drugstores and some retail stores are male condoms, female condoms, sponges, spermicides, over-the-counter progestin-only contraceptive pills, and over-the-counter emergency contraception. Forms available at pharmacies with a doctor's prescription or at doctor's offices are oral contraceptive pills, patches, vaginal rings, diaphragms, shots/injections, cervical caps, implantable rods, and intrauterine devices (IUDs). Sterilization procedures, including tubal ligations and vasectomies, are also performed.

Abortion is the termination of human pregnancy, often performed in the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade recognized a constitutional right to obtain an abortion without excessive government restriction, and in 1992 the Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey invalidated restrictions that create an undue burden on people seeking abortions. Since then, there has continued to be an abortion debate in the United States, and some states have passed laws in the form of regulation of abortions but which have the purpose or effect of restricting its provision. The proponents of such laws argue they do not create an undue burden. Some state laws that impact the availability of abortions have been upheld by courts. In 2022, Roe and Casey were overturned by the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, meaning that states may now regulate abortion in ways that were not previously permitted.

Frederick S. Jaffe (1925–1978) was a vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and founder of what is now the Guttmacher Institute. He was an advocate for increasing the availability of family planning services in the United States. Through his publications and consultations Jaffe argued for birth control as a matter of health and human rights. He was instrumental in developing public support for federal financing of family planning programs, among them the landmark Title X of the Public Health Service Act, passed by Congress in 1970. For his contributions to public health Jaffe was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in September 1977.

Abortion in Uganda is illegal unless performed by a licensed medical doctor in a situation where the woman's life is deemed to be at risk.

As of 2022, abortion in Missouri is illegal, with abortions only being legal in cases of medical emergency and several additional laws making access to abortion services difficult. In 2014, a poll by the Pew Research Center found that 52% of Missouri adults said that abortion should be legal vs. 46% that believe it should be illegal in all or most cases. According to a 2014 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) study, 51% of white women in the state believed that abortion is legal in all or most cases.

Abortion in Michigan is legal at all stages of pregnancy. A state constitutional amendment to explicitly guarantee abortion rights was placed on the ballot in 2022 as Michigan Proposal 22–3; it passed with 57 percent of the vote, adding the right to abortion and contraceptive use to the Michigan Constitution. The amendment largely prevents the regulation of abortion before fetal viability, unless said regulations are to protect the individual seeking an abortion, and it also makes it unconstitutional to make laws restricting abortions which would protect the life and health, physical and/or mental, of the pregnant individual seeking abortion.

Abortion in Nevada is legal up to the 24th week of pregnancy, under the Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 442, section 250; and after 24 weeks if the pregnancy could be fatal for the pregnant woman. 62% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal while 34% said it should by illegal in all or most cases. Legislation by 2007 required informed consent. Attempts were successfully made to pass abortion legislation in May 2019, being pushed through a largely Democratic controlled state legislature. The number of abortion clinics in Nevada has declined over the years, with 25 in 1982, seventeen in 1992 and thirteen in 2014. There were 8,132 legal abortions in 2014, and 7,116 in 2015. Due to the high level of support for abortion rights, continued access to abortion is supported by all parties, including the Republicans.

Abortion in Oregon is legal at all stages of pregnancy.

Abortion in Maryland is legal at all stages of pregnancy. The first laws regulating abortion in the state were passed in 1867 and 1868, banning abortion except by a physician to "secure the safety of the mother." Abortion providers continued to operate both within and outside of the law. Legal enforcement became more strict from the 1940s through 60s, with numerous police raids on abortion providers. In 1968, Maryland passed a liberalized abortion law that clarified the wording of the previous law, allowing abortion in hospital settings in cases of rape, severe fetal deformity, or when life and health were endangered.

References

  1. ↑ "Guttmacher Institute About" . Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  2. ↑ "The Decade That Dismantled Abortion Rights". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2020-03-10. ... reproductive rights group Guttmacher Institute ... .
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bass, Hannah (2012-01-25). "Guttmacher Institute". BMJ. 344: e623. doi:10.1136/bmj.e623. ISSN   0959-8138. PMID   22279095. S2CID   5319414.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Guttmacher Institute: The Scientific Backbone of the Reproductive Health Community | Benefunder". www.benefunder.com. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  5. 1 2 3 Valentine, Barbara. "Guttmacher Institute". College & Research Libraries News.
  6. ↑ "Herminia Palacio". Guttmacher Institute. 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  7. ↑ "Charity Navigator - Rating for Guttmacher Institute". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
  8. ↑ "Guttmacher Institute - MacArthur Foundation" . Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  9. ↑ "FactCheck Mailbag, Week of April 6-April 12 - FactCheck.org". FactCheck.org. 2010-04-13. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.