Glossary of Terms - Planned Parenthood

Glossary of Terms
Planned Parenthood Arizona (501c3) – ppaz.org
• Planned Parenthood Arizona is the largest sexual health organization in Arizona. It serves more
than 70,000 health care patients and more than 30,000 teens and adults through education,
outreach and advocacy efforts. Planned Parenthood operates 13 health center locations in
Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott and Yuma.
• 501c3
o
This is a designation for a nonprofit organization. It cannot participate in electoral activity
and donations to a 501c3 are tax- deductible.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona (501c4) – advocatesaz.org
• Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona (PPAA) is the non-partisan, political arm of Planned
Parenthood in Arizona. Planned Parenthood Advocates promotes sexual and reproductive health
and rights by educating voters, public officials and candidates for office.
• 501c4
o
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona is allowed to participate in certain electoral
activities and donations to this entity are not tax-deductible.
Abortion
• The termination and expulsion of a pregnancy before birth
• There are two types of abortion:
1) Abortion by pill
• The abortion pill is a medicine that ends an early pregnancy. In general, it can be
used up to 63 days — 9 weeks — after the first day of a woman's last period. The
medicinal name is mifepristone. It is followed up by misoprostol, a medicine that
causes cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus. This procedure can be
completed at home with follow-up with health care provider. This is NOT Plan B,
EC, or the morning-after-pill which is birth control and prevents pregnancy from
occurring.
2) In-clinic Abortion
• Medical procedures that end pregnancy
• Aspiration
• Most common in-clinic abortion. It is also known as vacuum
aspiration. Aspiration is usually used up to 16 weeks after a woman’s last
period.
• Dilation and Evacuation (D&E)
• D&E is usually performed later than 16 weeks after a woman's last period.
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)
• Arizona's Medicaid agency that offers health care programs to serve Arizona residents.
Individuals must meet certain income and other requirements to obtain services.
Annual Gynecological Visit
• Regular checkups that can help identify problems before they become serious and give you an
opportunity to talk about your concerns. If you're sexually active, regular checkups are especially

important. This exam includes a breast exam and pelvic exam for early breast and cervical cancer
detection. This exam provides the opportunity for a patient to ask health questions and choose a
birth control method that is best for her.
• What to expect during an annual gynecological exam and additional information– visit:
://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/womens-health-4284.
Auscultation
• A technical term for listening to the external sounds of the body; used to hear fetal
sounds.
Birth Control or Contraceptive
• Behaviors, devices, or medications used to avoid unintended pregnancy.
• Many different forms:
o Pill
• Oral hormonal contraception.
o Intrauterine Device (IUD)
• A small device made of plastic, which may contain copper or a natural hormone,
that is inserted into the uterus by a health care provider to prevent pregnancy. A
reversible method of birth control available only by prescription. This is a long-term
birth control option.
o Depo-Provera (the shot)
• The brand name of a progestin, DMPA (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate), that
is injected into the buttock or arm every 12 weeks to prevent pregnancy. It is a
reversible method of birth control available only by prescription.
o Ortho Evra (the patch)
• The brand name of a patch that contains hormones and is worn on the skin to
prevent pregnancy. Ortho Evra is a reversible hormonal method of birth control
available only by prescription. Also called “the patch.”
o Condom
• A sheath of thin rubber, plastic, or animal tissue that is worn on the penis during
sexual intercourse. It is an over-the-counter, reversible barrier method of birth
control, and it also reduces the risk of getting the most serious sexually
transmitted infections.
o Abstinence
• Not having sex play with a partner. Being continuously abstinent is the only way to
be absolutely sure that an individual will not have an unintended pregnancy or get
a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Comprehensive Sexuality Education
• A medically accurate curriculum or classroom experience that provides young people with positive
messages about sex and sexuality as natural, normal, healthy parts of life; includes information
about abstinence as the best way to avoid sexually transmitted infections and unintended
pregnancy; teaches that condoms reduce the risk of infection, including HIV, and that other forms
of birth control also reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancy for young people who are sexually
active; and provides opportunities to help young people develop relationship and communications
skills to help them explore their own values, goals, and options as well as the values of their
families and communities.

Emergency Contraceptive
• Hormonal birth control pills used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected vaginal intercourse.
Must be started within 120 hours (five days) of intercourse. Also called EC. IUDs can also be used
as EC, inserted within five days of unprotected intercourse to prevent pregnancy. EC is NOT a form
of abortion.
Fetus
• The organism that develops from the embryo at the end of about eight weeks of pregnancy (10
weeks since a woman’s last menstrual period).
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
• An infection that weakens the body’s ability to fight disease and can cause AIDS. Often sexually
transmitted.
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
• Any of more than 100 different types of infection, some of which may cause genital warts. Others
may cause cancer of the anus, cervix, penis, throat, or vulva.
• Both males and females can be vaccinated for HPV.
Midwife
• A professional trained to assist a woman during childbirth.
Nurse Practitioner
• A registered nurse who has special training to provide primary health care, including many
services performed by doctors.
Physician Assistant (pl. physician assistants)
• A health care provider who is trained to provide basic medical services, usually under the
supervision of a physician.
Physician
• Doctor
Pregnancy
• A condition in which a woman carries a developing offspring in her uterus. It begins with the
implantation of the pre-embryo and progresses through the embryonic and fetal stages until
birth, unless it is ended by miscarriage or abortion. It lasts about nine months from implantation
to birth. If clinically measured from a woman’s last menstrual period, it lasts 10 months.
Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)
• An infection that is usually passed from one person to another during sexual or intimate contact.
Also called "sexually transmitted disease."
• Testing is available at Planned Parenthood. A person should consider testing if he or she has had
unprotected sex. The most common symptom of an STI is no symptom at all. There are different
tests for different STIs , usually requiring blood or urine samples.

• Chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes and genital warts are most common. For more information on STIs
– visit: ://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex-101.
Title X
• The national family planning program, Title X (ten) of the Public Health Service Act, is the
only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning services in the United States.
Established in 1970 with broad bipartisan support, Title X provides high-quality family
planning services and other preventive health care to low-income and uninsured
individuals who may otherwise lack access to health care.
• Health centers receiving Title X funds must provide an array of confidential preventive
health services, including: contraceptive services, pelvic exams, pregnancy testing,
screening for cervical and breast cancer, screening for high blood pressure, anemia, and
diabetes, screening for STIs, including HIV, basic infertility services, health education, and
referrals for other health and social services.
• Arizona Family Planning Council is the grantee that distributes funds from the federal
government to Title X health providers in the state of Arizona.
Ultrasound
• A medical test that creates an image by bouncing sound waves off the internal organs.
Website List for Statistics and Helpful Information
• The Alan Guttmacher Institute
o .guttmacher.org/index.
• Arizona Department of Health Services
o .hs.state.az.us/plan/index/
• Arizona Family Planning Council
o ://www.azfpc.org/index.
• Sexuality Information & Education Council of the United States
o ://www.siecus.org/
• U.S. Census Bureau
o ://www.census.gov/
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
o ://www.cdc.gov/