It's no secret that Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is no fan of Planned Parenthood. Time and time again, he's used his platform as Speaker of the House to spread misinformation about the the 100 year old health care organization as a means of passing legislation that would block low-income women from getting preventive care.
To humanize the impact that "defunding" would have on his constituents, Planned Parenthood filmed a "Stories of Care" video series in Rep. Paul Ryan's home state of Wisconsin.
The objective was to show local impact while galvanizing patients and supporters to deepen their involvement in the "I Stand with Planned Parenthood" campaign—by sharing their stories, lobbying members of Congress, and speaking out in a public facing way.
Planned Parenthood's brand is built person by person, service by service, each terrified call, tweet, visit or search for information, at a time. It is built through an in person connection with the 2.4 million patients who come to Planned Parenthood each year for birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, abortion and increasingly services like non judgemental transgender care or Orgasms 101. It's built by the 68 million people who visited Planned Parenthood online last year for sexual and reproductive health information. And it's also built by the tens of millions of people who ACT to protect the care—and power—they get from Planned Parenthood.
Despite a lot of heavy breathing in the media, Planned Parenthood is more popular than ever—and way way more popular than Congress. 1 in 5 women rely Planned Parenthood for care in their lifetime. And millions who receive care go on to become active advocates—today 10.5 million strong.
Advocates like Lori Hawkins from Rep. Paul Ryan's home district of Wisconsin, who turned to Planned Parenthood years ago as an underinsured Catholic school teacher. She was experiencing severe pain in her lower abdomen, and she had a family history of cancer — so she called Planned Parenthood. They got her in that day, and found a large cyst and multiple benign tumors on her ovaries. She was alone, afraid, and scared she'd never be able to have children. The Planned Parenthood clinician she saw invited her to sit down, take her time, and make the calls she needed to make there at the health center. Today, Lori is happy, healthy, and a proud mother of two.
By sharing her story, Lori stood up for an idea. An idea she knows has been championed by Planned Parenthood both through the delivery of care, and by fighting for that care. She was powered by Planned Parenthood in that moment. If Planned Parenthood were a fitness company that's the moment when the sprinter crosses the line or the swimmer touches the wall wearing your swoosh or your stripes. It's the moment you are more than the product. You become a part of their life, their community, who they are and what they value.
Lori was one of Planned Parenthood's most visible brand ambassadors during the recent health care fight—sharing her story to protect care for others. Her daughter is a Planned Parenthood supporter, too — because she says she wouldn't be here if not for the care her mother received.
Lori's story was picked up across local and national media and a 30-second cut-down of her video appeared in several of Planned Parenthood paid digital and TV ads campaigns. Lori's story even broke through within the arts and entertainment word, with video shares on social media networks, from the likes of Padma Lakshmi, Patricia Arquette, Zoey Deutch , Matt McGorry, Nick Offerman and Mae Whitman.
