As Planned Parenthood approaches its 90th anniversary, the grandson of founder Margaret Sanger admits that changes must be made in the way it addresses the issue of teen pregnancy. In Denver to speak at a luncheon benefiting Teens for Tomorrow, Alexander Sanger emphasized the organization needs to focus on the “planned” part of its name.
“We need to reframe the issues of reproductive freedom and the steps that need to be taken to make sure that every child is born to parents who want and are ready for a child,” he said, “because the arguments we’ve been using simply haven’t worked.”
|
Taylor. member Jennifer Evans. |
Addressing a capacity crowd at the JW Marriott in Cherry Creek North, Sanger said 80 percent of teenagers of childbearing age are sexually active, 10 percent of them become pregnant, and 5 percent give birth.
It won’t be an easy fix, he added. “We have to change the entire environment teens are in. We have to attack poverty, improve schools, and attain better nutrition and prenatal care.”
Rebecca Broida Gart and Dr. Dean Prina chaired the luncheon, and Vicki Cowart, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, introduced the speaker.
VIP guests included Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and his wife, Helen Thorpe; U.S. Rep. Mark Udall and his wife, Maggie Fox; former Colorado first lady Dottie Lamm; Chantal Unfug, Denver’s director of boards and commissions; Buzz Victor, president of the Planned Parenthood board, and his wife, George Ann; and Chris Romer, whose father, Roy, a former Colorado governor, now serves as superintendent of the Los Angeles public schools.
Karen VanDeWater, a past member of the Planned Parenthood board, was there with daughter, Amy Von Thun; Amy’s husband, Charles, a current member of the PPRM board; and Charles’ mother, Marcella Von Thun. Cathy Hazouri, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, and assistant director Mary Korch were spreading the word about their group’s Oct. 1 fundraiser, the Carle Whithead Memorial Award Dinner honoring Wilma Taylor. Rand Corp. president James
Thomson is to deliver the keynote address.
Katie Stapleton, whose son, Craig, was recently confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to France, was at the luncheon too, as was
Merle Chambers and Letty Bass, executive director of the Chambers Family Fund; Anne Warhover, president and CEO of HealthOne Alliance; Women’s Foundation president Joy Johnson; Lauren Casteel of the Denver Foundation; Lee Palmer Everding; Terry and Dr. Elaine Scholes; Nancy Snyder; Barbara Lee; Kristina and attorney KC Veio; former state legislator Ed Perlmutter; Jennifer Evans; and the luncheon’s corporate chairs, Sharon Scott and Kevin O’Connor. Fox 31 news anchor Libby Weaver, herself the mother of three, was the emcee.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jmdpost@aol.com.
