July 12, 2012

After living in New York and working at J.P. Morgan on Wall Street for seven years, Debby D’Arcangelo moved with her family to West Windsor and took a job in the development office of The Lawrenceville School. As part of her duties there, she drove students into Trenton to work with inner city children as part of their community service requirements.

Something clicked during those two years. “I realized I wanted to work with communities in need,” says Ms. D’Arcangelo, who was recently named the new president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Association of the Mercer Area. “I went on to work for Isles in Trenton. And I really appreciated their mission of helping people help themselves. I stayed for six years and I learned a lot about people. We all have the same needs, no matter our backgrounds. We all have so much in common.”

Ms. D’Arcangelo, her husband and daughter moved to Trenton 12 years ago. While at Isles, she directed her first capital campaign. She decided to pursue a secondary degree, earning a Masters in public policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. After leaving Isles, she began doing community service full-time, joining the boards of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Princeton, the New Jersey Policy Perspective, and the NAACP Trenton Branch.

Chief among them was the Planned Parenthood Association of the Mercer Area. Seven years on the organization’s board, including a run as treasurer, followed by nine months as its interim CEO, led to her current appointment.

“We are so fortunate to have such a talented, knowledgeable, and committed former trustee who can guide the organization through this important period,” said Carol Golden, board chair, in a prepared statement. “We look forward to continued success at Planned Parenthood under Debby’s leadership.”

As the new CEO of the organization, Ms. D’Arcangelo is facing many challenges. “The state budget cuts for family planning, now in their third cycle, are the biggest,” she says. “There is so much need in Mercer County, especially in Trenton, for reproductive health. For a lot of our clientele, we are their only health care source. The legislature has repeatedly voted to restore the cuts, but Governor Christie repeatedly vetoes it.”

Planned Parenthood has three health centers in Mercer County, in Trenton, on the campus of the College of New Jersey, and in Hamilton Township. Patients are charged on a sliding fee scale that goes all the way down to zero if necessary, based on income and family size. Demand has risen in recent years, as unemployment and a sagging economy have taken health benefits away from many who had them in the past.

Despite the uptick, the level of care has continued, Ms. D’Arcangelo says. “It’s the quality of the care we provide that’s the most important thing,” she says. “Planned Parenthood has extremely high quality standards and guidelines. Whatever our patients need, they are getting the best care. And that doesn’t change.”

Planned Parenthood, which is based in Trenton with a staff of 40, offers cancer screenings as well as family planning services. “We can identify something in its early stages,” says Ms. D’Arcangelo. “It’s not just good public policy, it’s a good investment.”

Statistics say that one in five women has gone to Planned Parenthood at some point in their lives. The numbers also report that 70 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the organization. That means 30 percent do not.

“The vocal minority is a constant issue, and it can get loud,” says Ms. D’Arcangelo. “But we have wonderful local support. A big part of the job is raising funds, and the Princeton community is very generous and supportive of our mission. So my job is probably not as difficult as it might be elsewhere. We’re known for the support we receive.”


May 2, 2012

In the three years that have passed since Melissa Harris-Perry last spoke at a Planned Parenthood event, women’s reproductive rights have been repeatedly challenged. From the “personhood” amendments to the fight between Susan B. Komen For The Cure and Planned Parenthood, it has been a time of “distressing change,” she said at a luncheon held last week by Planned Parenthood Association of the Mercer Area.

The organization honored Tania Lawson-Johnston McCleery with the 2012 Sanger Circle Award for her commitment to Planned Parenthood. The award is given each year in recognition of founder Margaret Sanger’s contributions to the family planning movement.

“I don’t need to tell you all where we are at this moment,” said Ms. Harris-Perry, the keynote speaker at the sold-out spring benefit. Some 600 people came to the Hyatt-Princeton to hear the talk by Ms. Harris-Perry, who from 2006 to 2010 was an associate professor of politics and African American studies at Princeton University. Now on the faculty at Tulane University, where she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South, she also hosts her own weekend television show on MSNBC.

“People were feeling really good about what was going to happen with women’s reproductive rights,” said Ms. Harris-Perry, recalling her 2009 address to Planned Parenthood in San Diego. “It was very bi-partisan. I don’t think any of us in that room thought that three or four years later we’d be under attack.”

Chief among the challenges of the past three years was the news that the Komen organization had pulled breast exam funds from Planned Parenthood for political reasons. “That, to me, was the most heartbreaking,” Ms. Harris-Perry said. “We’ve all supported Komen. We’ve all worn the pink ribbons. It’s how I indicate my interest and concern for reproductive rights and breast health.”

Ms. Harris-Perry compared the division between the two organizations to her own differences in a debate she had with activist Gloria Steinem. The two women had clear differences, but their ultimate goals were similar. It is the same with Planned Parenthood and the Komen organization. “There was no winner of that fight,” Ms. Harris-Perry said. “Nobody wants to defeat Komen.”

Another particularly distressing development was President Barack Obama’s backing of the decision to prevent the Plan B emergency contraceptive from being sold over the counter to girls under 17. His instinctive reaction as a father of two daughters was that parents should be involved before girls resort to emergency contraception. “But that’s the point,” Ms. Harris-Perry said. “It’s not those daughters who we’re talking about.”

She credited her mother, a social worker who “was part of the abortion underground railroad” with helping to shape her own views. “From my early childhood, I learned that at the core of who we are and what we do is the protection of women’s rights and family rights,” she said.

Ms. Harris-Perry concluded her talk by announcing she was waiving her fee for the lecture. She urged the audience to continue their support for Planned Parenthood and other organizations devoted to women’s rights. “The current battle is not about saving babies. It is about shaming women. It’s particularly about poor women,” she said, are being shamed for going to Planned Parenthood for contraception. “We need matter-of-fact health education for girls and women. We need to have an awareness of the political conversation about women’s health.”