Founded in 1916 by Margaret Sanger, PPFA was America's first birth control clinic to be established. A driven woman motivated by the beliefs that the reproductive decisions should be made on an individual rather than a social or cultural basis, she set out to create access to birth control for low-income, minority woman. Throughout her endeavor to help the community, she eventually brought about the reversal of federal and state "Comstock laws" which prohibited publication and distribution of information about sex, sexuality, contraception, and human reproduction. In doing away with these beliefs, she, in turn, established the principles that a woman's right to control her body is the foundation of her human rights, and that women are entitled to sexual pleasure and fulfillment just as men are. In addition to this, through expanding the American concept of volunteerism and grassroots organizing by setting up a network of volunteer driven family centers across the United States, Margaret Sanger helped establish the contemporary American model for the protection of civil rights through non-violent civil disobedience. This was a model which later propelled the civil rights, womens, and AIDS-action movements. This later evolved into what is known as Planned Parenthood Federation of America. .
Standing as the world's largest and most trusted voluntary reproductive health care organization, PPFA believes in everyone's right to choose when or whether to have a child, and that every child should be wanted and loved. Millions of men and women have turned to PPFA for vital health services and sexuality information. In the year 2001, staff members and volunteers provided almost five million people with the means to make responsible choices about their sexual and reproductive health. These programs ranged from preschools and universities, to prisons and religious organizations. Programs focused on 25 different content areas, such as AIDS/HIV, contraception/family planning- which included such topics as abstinence, safer sex, homophobia, STD's.