STD = Sexually Transmitted Disease.
STI = Sexually Transmitted Infection. This can lead to, or be part of, an STD.
Here, we use “STD” to cover both, because it’s the more common term.
A Major Part of PP’s Income
Look at what Planned Parenthood says about how many people they serve annually:
More than twice as many individuals are getting STD testing and treatment, compared to contraception.
Therefore, getting people diverted elsewhere for their STD testing and treatment is by itself a major way to set up competition to PP. As we consider how much better most other STD-testing options are, with lower prices and greater caring, many people can see we’re doing them a favor by giving them the information.
Some people want screening and will need all the STDs checked; in those cases, a higher number of diseases checked is a better buy even if prices are the same. Other people had a certain disease and just want to know if it’s cured, or they know what they were exposed to, so they may want to test for just that one disease.
Comprehensive Centers
Many of the health centers we list have STD testing and treatment. For all our listings, a check of their website can verify this; sometimes, they’ll even have a full page on the topic.
Non-Profits
Some areas already have organizations who are devoted to STD eradication, or who have it as a major part of their mission. When local activists let us know about them, we add them to the listings under a heading for Non-Profits. Those Pregnancy Resource Centers that include STD testing are also included under the same heading.
Pregnancy Resource Centers
There’s a trend now for Crisis Pregnancy Centers / Pregnancy Help Centers / Pregnancy Resource Centers to add free STD testing to their services, as they catch on to the importance of offering this to get people out of PP’s orbit. They can do this by:
Offering the services themselves on site – that is, having the capability to properly draw blood and urine samples, and having a relationship with a lab that can do the tests. Helping to raise funds for the purpose is also an excellent way to participate in the campaign.
A resource for raising funds: Pregnancy Center Fundraising Academy
Passing out vouchers to get free testing at the local county health department or nearby testing lab. Again, fundraising is needed if the vouchers must be bought.
At the very least, have good information on hand about where free STD testing is available. If that’s not available locally, have the information of where there are lower-cost options, and know the prices for both PP and its alternative; you may find this at STD Check. This technique requires no fundraising and can be done quickly, once the research is done. An on-site visit to any alternative is strongly recommended, since we need to know what we’re sending women and men into.
Working with PRCs has a large advantage in that they’re often deliberately located near PPs, making them convenient. However, some people won’t darken the door of an explicitly pro-life place, and there are probably a higher proportion of such people walking into PP than there are in the general population. So it’s good to still have information available on other alternatives – the more options to offer, the better.
Campus Health Centers
PP centers are often located near campuses as a prime target audience. While they’re generally limited to the student population, plus maybe faculty and staff, college and university campuses are a prime place for needing STD testing. Make sure that your local campus centers are offering STD testing – and not just for those with symptoms, but for general screening. If they don’t, on-campus campaigns to get them to do so might be quite fruitful, and participants in such campaigns are certainly not limited to pro-lifers.
Nationwide Labs
For STD testing alone, STD Check has over 4,500 centers nation-wide and offers a panel of 10 tests for $198, with a clear price list for tests of each individual disease. You can put a zip code in at Find a Lab to get your closest ones.
This has been a better deal than PP in some areas, but PP’s prices aren’t the same nationwide. They vary by area, and sometimes different PP centers in the same area will have different prices. You’ll have to check with your local PP center to see what their prices are and how they compare.
We give this information as what we found with a web search; STD Check has no contact with our campaign.
Telehealth
Planned Parenthood has been developing telehealth though apps and through the web for some time now, and the Covid-19 crisis has accelerated this dramatically. PP mainly uses the term “telehealth,” though has been known to use the term “telemedicine.” Telemedicine is narrower, referring to clinical services, but the average person doesn’t keep track of the difference.
The first places to check for something similar, of course, are the Community Health Centers and other alternatives already nearby. Since telehealth is an oncoming trend, they may well offer the same services, and may offer them at a better price, or have other advantages. And if they don’t now, they may in a matter of months, so keep checking.
There are also many national companies with networks. These require a trip to a nearby lab to give a sample for the test, but otherwise they do everything online, and give a set price. These were found in a web search and gives you an idea of how telemedicine is practiced, but there are so many new start-ups in this area that a comprehensive list would become outdated quickly.
Examples for STD testing nationally: Amwell, Call on Doc, Health Testing Centers,
Know Now STD, Online STD Checkup, STD Testing 24/7, Tela Doc
A watchdog organization has filed a lawsuit against WebMD about their STD tests. You can check Responsible Telemedicine for any updates on which companies may not be of good quality.
However, the current version of the PP app only covers birth control and Urinary Tract Infections. They may add STDs, but that means either sending people to some other lab, or having them come in to the PP lab – and of course as soon as someone comes into the PP center, it’s not telehealth any more.
Complaints
To file a complaint about any telemedicine done wrong – by Planned Parenthood, or anyone else:
www.responsibletelemedicine.org
Spreading the Information
Some ideas:
PP Centers
Sidewalk advocates, as well as people who admire sidewalk advocates but would rather go on non-abortion days or only to abortion-referral facilities, can design a leaflet with the local information and target it for people going in at known STD-testing times.
Leafletting and Tabling
College campuses, people as the come out of concerts, or any other place advertising would help.
Billboards
Strategically placed near the PP center.
Other ideas? Send them to grassrootsdefunding@consistent-life.org, and we’ll add them!