Gloria Feldt, Planned Parenthood

Gloria Feldt is president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Arrived last night at Reagan National. I'm reminded of the words of Douglas Adams: "The phrase 'pretty as an airport' appears in no known language."

No matter. Travel keeps you in touch with what people are thinking. Besides, I enjoy visiting D.C., where the future of reproductive health both here and abroad is being shaped.

One of the reasons I'm in town is to attend a zoning hearing regarding a new building Planned Parenthood has purchased here to house our Washington office. (Better to own than to rent, my mother always said.) The predictable opposition has emerged, so the hearing will be lively. But we're well prepared and very excited about our new "Embassy for Choice."

The day begins with orientation of new staff. It's a big group because we're gearing up our public policy division to carry out our new Global Partners advocacy project and the Responsible Choices Action Agenda overall.

I always enjoy orientation because you hear such terrific stories from people about why they've come to Planned Parenthood and what spurred their interest in reproductive health and rights issues. People are always surprised when I tell them it was a Catholic priest who introduced me to this movement. I was a Head Start teacher in a small Texas town and he was the parish priest. "The people in my parish are poor," he said to me. "I cannot feed them. I cannot clothe them. How can I tell them to have a baby every year?"

More and more, I'm finding that people are getting involved with the family planning movement through their concern for international development and population. That's certainly true here in D.C., where our Global Partners program is headquartered.

It's inspiring to hear people's different stories. It's a reminder of how broad this movement is and how it touches people's lives in so many ways.

As I stress to the new staff, great things are riding on our efforts to involve the public in the political process and mobilize them to act on their beliefs. With Campaign 2000 underway, the ramifications for the future of reproductive health and rights worldwide couldn't be more significant. It's essential that the public be engaged, that they are educated about the issues that concern them most, and that they are willing and ready to be activists to make sure candidates are focused on those issues.

With this in mind, it's good to hear that national recruitment for our Responsible Choices Action Network is going well. Grist readers are welcome to join. We make it easy to be an activist to support legislation that expands access to family planning while opposing policies that take away our reproductive rights and choices.

The network has proven to be a powerful tool in moving our agenda forward in Congress and in the state houses. But I think this kind of vehicle can cut deeper -- this kind of engagement promotes an informed, committed citizenry that participates in the democratic process.

The more united we are, the stronger we are.