Planned Parenthood of South Texas

History

Planned Parenthood South Texas was originally an independent birth control facility called Maternal Health Center. It was renamed Planned Parenthood Center of San Antonio in the 1940s as the first of many name changes due to consolidations. It took its current name in 2014. It originally focused on birth control and abortion-inducing drugs and devices, adding first-trimester abortions in the 1990s. ¹

Much of the abortion organization’s growth was due to receipt of public funds. It received its first federal grant in the 1950s, which gave it the ability to add 12 satellite locations. In the 1980s, it expanded to four independent centers with the support of government funding. ¹

Planned Parenthood South Texas is also affiliated with Planned Parenthood Texas Votes. Planned Parenthood Texas Votes is the election arm of Planned Parenthood’s Texas affiliates. It has a 501(c)(4) chapter and a Political Action Committee. It advocates on issues such as abortion, immigration, and LGBT policies. ²

Funding

Planned Parenthood South Texas raised $6,350,204 in 2016. Its revenues in 2017 were $5,490,492, and in 2018 the group reported having $800,000³⁴ Most of its 2017 expenses went to staff salaries and related expenses.

Nearly three million dollars were raised from Planned Parenthood South Texas’ contract services in 2017. ³

Planned Parenthood South Texas has received funding from the Brown Foundation, a Houston-based liberal grantmaker. ⁵

Services

Planned Parenthood South Texas provides a number of services to men, boys, women, and girls. Over 10 percent of its clients were males in 2018. It provided services to 18,821 people in 2018 throughout 33,100 visits. It conducted 27,459 Sexually Transmitted Infections services, 1,453 abortions – 381 of which were surgical, 1,072 of which were via the abortion pill – and provided estrogen and testosterone to 250 people who identify as transgender. Pap smears, birth control, and other services were also provided. ⁴⁶⁷

Political engagement

Planned Parenthood South Texas frequently engages in political engagement. It sponsored two locations for its “Forward! Marches that move us” exhibits. The exhibits will be in place in September 2019 and focus on photos of past and present marches. The marches themselves are broad in focus, including opposition to nuclear weapons and support for legalized abortion, LGBTQ issues, and looser immigration policies.

The group opposed the Trump administration’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. ⁸

In July 2019, Planned Parenthood South Texas president Jeffrey Hons said a bill signed by Texas governor Greg Abbott (R) to ban municipalities from giving special tax and spending subsidies to abortion providers would not impact the group’s operations. ⁹¹⁰

Planned Parenthood South Texas’ Political Action Committee closed in 2016. ¹¹

Lawsuits

Planned Parenthood South Texas was heavily engaged in legal action after pro-life advocate David Daleiden’s undercover videos were used by Texas officials in 2015 to investigate the affiliate as well as other Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas. ¹² A jury later ruled that Planned Parenthood locations in Texas did not violate any laws related to fetal body part sales which Daleiden alleged in his videos. ¹³

All of Planned Parenthood’s Texas affiliates sued Texas in 2015 over the state’s plan to defund the abortion company. ¹⁴ One of their arguments was that Daleiden’s videos were deceptively edited, and Texas’ defunding efforts in light of those videos were therefore invalid. A court ruled in January 2019 that Daleiden’s videos were not deceptively edited and sent the case back to the lower court for a new ruling on the merits. ¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷

Leadership

Jeffrey Hons is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Texas. He earned over $146,000 in 2017. Senior vice president and chief operating officer Polin Barraza earned over $112,200 in 2017. ³

Alison Boone was Planned Parenthood South Texas’ Board Chair in 2017.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, a Democratic Presidential candidate for the 2020 election, was 2019 honorary chair for Planned Parenthood South Texas’ annual luncheon. The luncheon was anticipated to raise $500,000. ¹⁸