PORTLAND, Ore. (Portland Tribune) — Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette has received the largest single gift in its 59-year history.
The reproductive healthcare nonprofit accepted the $15 million unrestricted gift from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, who is the former wife of Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos.
The funding was part of a $3.8 billion package of donations Scott recently made to 465 nonprofits, she announced Wednesday, March 23. The single largest gift — $275 million — was for Planned Parenthood’s national office and 21 regional offices. Other organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Habitat for Humanity, including Habitat for Humanity Portland Region, also received funding.
The donation will be used to advance health equity in Oregon and Southwest Washington, expand services, sustain education and outreach programs and make investments, officials with Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette (PPCW) said in a statement announcing the donation Friday, March 25.
“We are humbled by the magnitude of this gift, knowing that it has the power to help transform and expand access to care and education for our communities, as well as to support and invest in our staff,” said PPCW president and chief executive Anne Udall and Ashley Thirstrup, PPCW’s board chair, in a statement thanking Scott. “With this gift, we have the opportunity to implement a long-term, multiyear strategy, in partnership with our community, to build the future of sexual and reproductive health care and education in Oregon and Southwest Washington.”
The nonprofit operates healthcare centers in Portland, Beaverton, Bend, Milwaukie, Salem and Vancouver, Washington.
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The donation accounts for more than half of PPCW’s total revenue for the 2021 fiscal year, which includes patient revenue, public funding, grants and donations, according to its last annual report.
Nonprofit officials called the dismantling of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade “imminent” in their statement Friday, adding that it is a “crisis moment for access to sexual and reproductive health care in the United States.” The court is expected to rule later this year on a case in which a Mississippi abortion provider is challenging the state’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Restrictive abortion laws have been introduced in 30 states across the country in recent months in response to the court’s anticipated ruling.
Idaho recently signed into law a bill that would prohibit abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The law will force patients to travel upward of 250 miles each way to receive the procedure, officials said.
“PPCW’s health centers have already felt the impact of recently enacted state restrictions throughout the country, and we expect a significant increase if Roe is dismantled,” they said.