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that included services for people throughout their lifespan. CHOICES' leaders recognized that abortion was often needlessly siloed from other reproductive care. In 2017, CHOICES purchased property to build a new health and birth center that would include out-of-hospital births and perinatal care under the midwifery model, abortion services, testing and treatment for sexually-transmitted infections, LGBTQ-inclusive sexual health services with an emphasis on serving communities with the least access to care. Dr. Nikia
Grayson, a
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142:. The organization was also the only nonprofit, non-hospital entity in the nation to offer both abortion and birth services under one roof. In 2021, Jennifer Pepper took over as President and CEO of CHOICES. The organization announced its new Center of Excellence Nurse Midwifery Fellowship Program in 2021. The fellowship was designed for recent Black midwife graduates with the goal of increasing the number of Black midwives in the United States, particularly in the South.
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director
Rebecca Terrell, CHOICES received its first large philanthropic investment: a $ 150,000 grant from the MAC AIDS Fund. Also in 2010, CHOICES moved to a new and more prominent location on Poplar Avenue in Memphis. The organization underwent a rebranding along with the move; previously called The Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, "CHOICES" was selected as an easier-to-remember title.
83:. CHOICES had a very prominent profile in the community, with an advisory committee of eminent leaders, professors, and officials. The center was very actively called on by the media and had extensive speaking engagements and a high profile at public schools and universities on a wide variety of topics related to women's health and sexuality.
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In the early 2000s, CHOICES started expanding its services beyond abortion. The clinic began offering family planning, HIV testing and prevention, LGBTQ-inclusive fertility counseling, and gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender patients. In May 2010 under the direction of its new executive
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In the early years following the Roe v. Wade decision there was prominent public support for the provision of quality abortion services. Abortion was viewed, even in
Tennessee, as a matter of women's public health. The staff of the center included graduate students, several on internships, from the
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As patient numbers and community needs continued to grow, CHOICES’ leadership began to envision a unique model that included both birth and abortion care. In 2015, the executive staff and board of directors embarked on a plan to provide innovative, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care
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conceptualized and co-authored, with the endorsement of Mayor
Chandler and Gen. Jay Hubbard, Chief of Police, a grant which gained funding through DHEW. In its first year of services, the rates of sexual assault cases dropped for lack of prosecution declined by 60 percent. The funding was obtained
91:(SANE), whose role included on call 24/7 services for victims of sexual assault, crisis counseling, prophylactic care to avoid pregnancy and STDs, expert collection of forensic evidence, expert testimony in prosecutions, and ongoing counseling. Priscilla Chism and Brenda A. Brown of the
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clinic opened in
October 2022. CHOICES' Memphis clinic remains open for all other services, including perinatal and birth services, sexual wellness, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and HIV testing and prevention.
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The most prominent program it helped develop beyond its core medical services was the
Memphis Sexual Assault Resources Center (now Shelby County CVRCC). This pioneered nationally the creation of the role of the
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decision. There were no other abortion providers in
Memphis at the time. The clinic was originally located in a building across the street from the
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In 2020, CHOICES moved into its new health and birth center in
Memphis. CHOICES is the only out-of-hospital birth center in the Memphis and
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bus terminal in downtown
Memphis. Within 18 months, a foundation loan allowed the clinic to move to a remodeled former private home in
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to continue providing abortion services for people across the
Southeast once abortion would no longer be legal in Tennessee. CHOICES'
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CHOICES was founded by Priscilla Chism in 1974 under the name Memphis Center for Reproductive Health just after the
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protestors, vandalism, and threats of violence throughout its history. In 2009, shortly after the murder of
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is an independent, nonprofit reproductive and sexual health provider and was the first abortion clinic in
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Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
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228:"Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, et al., v. Herbert Slatery, et al"
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265:"Memphis bomb squad checks threat at Midtown abortion clinic"
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decision, CHOICES announced it would open a second clinic in
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Like many other abortion providers, CHOICES has experienced
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CHOICES' Memphis clinic, located at 1203 Poplar Avenue.
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University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences
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147:Dobbs vs Jackson Women's Health Organization
134:CHOICES' Carbondale clinic, opened in 2022.
16:Health center in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.A
284:Organizations based in Memphis, Tennessee
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