CHOICE Timeline

1970

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 and receives its first federal funding and first grant support.
CHOICE evaluates abortion facilities 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

Women’s 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.
Women’s Way is founded with CHOICE as one of seven constituent agencies.
CHOICE receives first funding for family planning from Family Relations Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers).

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 and a new sexuality education course for 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 one-year old 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.
AIDS and prenatal care calls to Hotlines increase.
Teen Connection and CHOICE Training Department discontinued due to lack of funds.

1992

CHOICE produces an HIV/AIDS Resource Directory for Philadelphia.
Child Care Choices expands hours of operation to meet the needs of callers.
The “Gag Rule” enjoined from being implemented on the day Bill Clinton is elected President.

1993

CHOICE develops 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.

2002

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 launches innovative program designed to educate and empower women incarcerated in the City’s prisons:  CHOICE staff members visit correctional facilities on a regular basis and provide inmates with CHOICE hotline information, where they may receive continued support upon their release.

2005

CHOICE launches 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 version of Changes: You and Your Body published.

CHOICE continues to identify and expand outreach to at-risk and underserved populations, through bi-lingual staff and educational materials and targeted 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 in any language

2007

Where to Find supplemented with an online, mobile phone accessible site, www.where2find.mobi, and a mini-disc with CHOICE publications, factsheets, and interactive programs.

CHOICE continues to expand its Community Education, particularly educational programs approved for presentation in the Philadelphia public school system, allowing the agency to reach 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 invests in significant telephone system upgrades including VOIP, allowing Hotline Counselors to seamlessly take calls from home in an emergency.

2009

CHOICE receives federal grant from Medicaid to run the Maternal and Child Healthline to expand enrollment of eligible women and families in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

2011

CHOICE begins operating Health Resource Center in Roxborough H.S.

2012

CHOICE begins operating second Health Resource Center in Benjamin Franklin H.S.

CHOICE partners with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to support “I Know U Should 2” campaign to increase testing and treatment of STIs among teenagers and young adults

CHOICE launches “Need2Know” text-message based program to provide immediate, accurate, and confidential information and referrals regarding sexual and reproductive health from trained counselors via text messages.