Planned Parenthood reported today that an estimated $500,000 has been raised and 15,000 individuals have made contributions to Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its affiliates around the country in response to this campaign -- many are first-time supporters of the organization.

Dozens of volunteers and Planned Parenthood staff in the organization's Washington office are preparing the mail bags stuffed with the personal messages. The mail bags will be hand-delivered by Planned Parenthood to the new Executive Office Building on 17th Street, in Washington, D.C., tomorrow afternoon.

The grassroots mobilization took off on e-mail and various Internet chat sites two weeks ago after Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison suggested in her column that making a donation to Planned Parenthood was a fitting message to send to President George W. Bush on Presidents' Day in response to his reinstating the "global gag rule" and appointing John Ashcroft as U.S. attorney general.

PPFA, the nation's largest reproductive health and rights organization, responded to the overwhelming interest in the campaign circulating over the Internet by setting up a "Planned Parenthood Presidents' Day Message Campaign" on the organization's Web site at www.plannedparenthood.org.

The site allows visitors to simultaneously make a donation to the organization while sending a personal message that will be forwarded to President Bush. Messages posted to date run the gamut from simple statements of support for reproductive rights to tributes from grandmothers who lived through harrowing personal experiences during the years before the fundamental right to choose safe and legal abortion was recognized by the Supreme Court 28 years ago in Roe v. Wade.

Sample messages to the president being returned with contributions:

Dear President Bush:

"You promised to be a uniter rather than a divider. You kept your promise by causing women everywhere to shudder in unison at your plan to dismantle reproductive rights. I hope you will reconsider this plan." -- Dale City, Calif.

"You are the current resident of the White House. Please be aware that you did not win the popular vote. Your position on a woman's right to choose is a primary reason for that fact." -- Louis Park, Minn.

"I'm a college student that always wants the ability to choose what I want for my body without anyone telling me what I can or cannot do. Don't you think that your daughters feel the same way that I do?" -- Washington, D.C.

"We, like millions of other Americans, believe that reproductive rights are important. We understand that you disagree, but we will not support any attempt on your part to stack our Supreme Court with anti-choice justices." -- Tacoma, Wash.

"Mr. Bush, I have contributed to Planned Parenthood as a statement that you do not have the consent of the people of the United States to deny women of the U.S. and the world the right to make our own decisions about our bodies and our beliefs." -- New York, N.Y.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the world's largest and most trusted voluntary family planning organization. It comprises 127 affiliates that operate 875 health centers nationwide, which serve nearly five million Americans annually. For more information on Planned Parenthood, visit http://www.plannedparenthood.org.

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