CHOICE History
Each year, each decade, brings new challenges, new issues, and new needs in the community. For over three decades, "CHOICE" has been synonymous with quality information and counseling services. We have a known and trusted name within the Philadelphia community as the place to call when you don't know where else to go. We remain a trustworthy, dependable, and accessible source in the field of reproductive and sexual health. Despite the many changes and re-configurations that have ensued over the years, CHOICE remains dedicated to its original mission: to enable individuals - regardless of race, class, gender, or ethnicity -- to make their own best possible reproductive health care choices. We continue to do so by exploring options, counseling with compassion, and providing comprehensive and accurate information. CHOICE sees reproductive health as a right - not a privilege.
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000 to Present
Abortion illegal in PA.
Clergy Consultation Service (CCS) trains PA Abortion Rights Association
(PARA) women to provide problem pregnancy options counseling
1971
CHOICE founded by PARA options counselors, opens
four options counseling centers run by CHOICE and CCS volunteers, assists
women in accessing out-of-state abortion services.
CHOICE sets up a small office in YWCA.
1972
CHOICE incorporates and begins a patient advocate
program to assist consumers of reproductive health services.
CHOICE develops medical standards for abortion services with assistance
from medical advisors.
CHOICE publishes its first resource and referral manual for options counselors.
1973
U.S. Supreme Court issues Roe V. Wade decision.
CHOICE has a corps of 200 volunteer options counselors providing options
couseling to 12,000 women annually.
CHOICE is granted non-profit status.
CHOICE receives its first federal funding and first grant support.
CHOICE evaluates abortion facilites in NYC and Philadelphia.
CHOICE moves its office to the YMCA.
1974
Medical Assistance funds abortions for women in
PA.
CHOICE begins distribution of Resource and News Bulletin publishing results
of abortion service evaluations.
CHOICE begins training program for health and social service professionals
and community organizations.
CHOICE receives Department of Welfare contract to train the staff.
1975
Womens Way has its first organizational meeting
in CHOICE offices.
CHOICE begins the telephone hotline - gathers information on birth control
STDs and sexuality.
CHOICE begins involvement in a women's health education project with American
Cancer Society and Philadelphia Health Management Corp.
1976
CHOICE moves to bigger space at American Friends
Service Committee Center.
Womens Way is founded with CHOICE as one of 7 constituent agencies.
CHOICE receives first funding for family planning from Family Relations
Committee of Phila. Yearly Meeting of Friends.
1977
CHOICE expands training program and receives first
Federal funding.
CHOICE receives first Family Planning Council grant for Hotline.
1978
CHOICE publishes first edition of "Changes"
booklet for teens about puberty and reproductive health issues.
FPC funding stabilized; Hotline expands its staff.
1979
CHOICE forms Connection Teen Theatre Company.
CHOICE publishes "Insights into Health Rights: Women's Rights in
PA."
1980
CHOICE begins program on Maternal and Infant Care.
CHOICE provides sexuality education course to local parent groups.
1981
CHOICE publishes "Mommy, Why is that Lady's
Tummy So Big?"
CHOICE begins gathering resource and referral information on child care
in response to callers' needs.
1982
CHOICE adds bilingual/bicultural (Spanish) counseling
to the Hotline.
CHOICE publishes "Child Birth Choices, Where to Go: Having a Baby
in Philadelphia" a survey of maternity facilities in Delaware Valley.
CHOICE receives Philadelphia Department of Public Health funding from
Maternal and Infant Care Program.
1984
CHOICE establishes Child Care Choices as a separate
program and receives first corporate contracts.
1985
Medical Assistance stops funding abortion for women
in PA.
CHOICE operates Casa Camadre, bilingual outreach office. Receives first
national grant from the March of Dimes.
1986
Greater Philadelphia Women's Medical fund established
to assist women unable to afford abortion.
CHOICE operates Eastern sector of PA's new statewide Teen Pregnancy Hotline.
1987
Governor Robert Casey takes office, and closes
1 year old statewide Teen Pregnancy Hotline because abortion referrals
are provided.
CHOICE publishes report on impact of the 1985 cut-off of Medical Assistance
funding for abortion.
1988
Regan administration introduces "Gag Rule"
regulations prohibiting discussion of abortion by agencies receiving Title
X funds.
CHOICE publishes new edition of "Changes."
CHOICE receives contract with Philadelphia Department of Public Health
to operate 985-AIDS, the Community AIDS Hotline.
CHOICE receives a major contract from the Private Industry Council for
Child Care Choices to provide resource and referral assistance to their
clients.
1989
CHOICE issues second report on affects of PA's
lack of Medical Assistance funding for abortion.
Child Care Choices expands as part of a new State-funded subsidized child
care program.
U.S. Supreme Court decides Webster case, returning major decision-making
powers on abortion to the states.
1990
Justice Brennan resigns from the Supreme Court-Souter
is appointed.
PA legislators pass restrictive new Abortion Control Act: pro-choice forces
await results of appeals process.
The CHOICE Connection produces The Choice is Yours, an original play on
AIDS and teens.
1991
The Supreme Court upholds the "Gag Rule".
Justice Marshall resigns from Supreme Court-Thomas appointed.
PA's Abortion Control Act upheld by Federal courts and appealed to U.S.
Supreme Court.
Teen Connection and CHOICE Training Department discontinued due to lack
of funds.
AIDS and prenatal care calls to Hotlines increase.
1992
CHOICE produces an HIV/AIDS Resource Directory
for Philadelphia.
Child Care Choices expands its hours to meet the needs of its callers.
The "Gag Rule" enjoined from being implemented on the day Bill
Clinton is elected President.
1993
CHOICE develops new program, Childrens Health Line
to help remove barriers to healthcare for children.
Child Care Choices begins providing face to face assistance to clients
at the Private Industry Council Assessment Center in Center City.
1994
CHOICE launches the Teen Hotline, staffed by teens
to respond to questions about sexual health issues from their peers.
CHOICE Community AIDS Hotline services expand to include four suburban
counties in PA and four counties in Southern NJ.
1995
CHOICE publishes the second edition of the HIV/AIDS
Resource guide, a 461-page source book encompassing AIDS services in 9-county
regional area.
1996
CHOICE is awarded nearly one-half million dollars
by the William Penn Foundation to institute a state-of-the-art information
management system.
CHOICE recommits to providing training opportunities by hiring a training
coordinator.
CHOICE revives and significantly revises our signature publication Changes: You and Your Body
2004
CHOICE launched its teen web site, www.choiceteens.org,
in addition to its primary web site, www.choice-phila.org. Both sites
are linked to a third, www.wheretofind.org, that contains a version of
the annual publication, Where To Find. Where to Find lists family planning
resources in the greater Philadelphia area.
CHOICE launched yet another innovative program designed to educate and empower women incarcerated in the City's prisons. CHOICE staff visits these correctional facilities on a regular basis and provides inmates with CHOICE hotline information where they may receive continued support upon their release.
2005
CHOICE launched the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia
Hotline as part of a consortium with other agencies, funded by the PA
Commission for Crime and Delinquency. This 10-year youth violence reduction
initiative connects youth, adults, and families with community-based organizations
providing support services in the hardest hit areas of Philadelphia.
Updated our signature publication Changes: You
and Your Body.
CHOICE continues to identify populations in need of information, care, and education. Our bi-lingual staff and educational materials are testament to CHOICE's efforts to reach underserved populations. The agency contunies its work towards enhancing its outreach to new immigrant communities from Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Caribbean Islands, South America, Africa, and Mexico.
2006
CHOICE contracts with a telephone translation service to provide immediate, professional translation to consumers; allowing CHOICE to serve all lang
2007
The paper version of Where to Find was joined by
an online, mobile phone accessible site, www.where2find.mobi, and a mini-disc
which also contains Changes and CHOICE factsheets.
CHOICE continues to expand its Community Education outreach efforts, particularly through our educational programs approved for presentation in the Philadelphia public school system. Each year, the agency reaches more youngsters at earlier ages than ever before.
2008
Changes: You and Your Body is translated into Spanish
With a grant from the Philadelphia Foundation CHOICE
is able to perform a significant telephone system upgrade including VOIP
to allow Hotline Counselors to seamlessly take calls from home in an emergency.
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