Planned Parenthood’s ‘Spot On’ app: Is it hoping to snag seekers of ‘natural family planning’?

Despite being a leader in the life-ending abortion industry, Planned Parenthood seems to be attempting to draw women interested in natural family planning methods to its Spot On app — promising to help users track their fertility. But is the app all that it is presented to be?

Live Action News previously reported on how women of younger generations are becoming more cognizant of the dangers of hormonal birth control (with an increased risk of stroke, heart attack, blood clots and depression) and are consequently turning to natural methods of family planning. But Planned Parenthood has never been so keen on the use of natural methods.

In 2017, Planned Parenthood’s former president Cecile Richards mocked natural family planning, calling it “insane” while simultaneously praising the use of potentially harmful hormonal birth control. That’s why Planned Parenthood’s pivot toward attempting to assist with fertility tracking methods through the Spot On app seems suspicious. 

The app claims to help users track menstrual cycles, birth control, self-reported daily activities, and a “fertility window” to “empower you whether you’re trying to conceive or aiming to prevent pregnancy.” It promises anonymity since no identifiable information, verification, or log-in of any kind is required.   

Once the user’s self-reported information about her menstrual cycle is entered, the calendar populates with the days the app predicts the woman will be “fertile” and days predicting future periods. Interestingly, Planned Parenthood states on its website that a woman is typically fertile for a seven-day time frame each month, yet the Spot On calendar marks nearly two weeks as fertile. 

What’s also important to note is that a woman may not have a consistent cycle to track, which also makes ovulation/the fertile window more difficult to track — and an app is typically used in tandem with other methods of symptom tracking by practitioners of natural family planning/fertility-based awareness methods. Reliable tracking involves more than just charting one’s menstruation.

However, once in the Spot On, it becomes clear it actually has little to do with tracking fertility for the purpose of conceiving – despite claims by the Planned Parenthood Direct website. Instead, it is used as yet another tool for Planned Parenthood to promote abortion and further market itself to minors. The app is marketed as safe for minors as young as 12, and offers to track the user’s mood and daily activities providing options such as being “horny,” masturbation, and having unprotected sex. 

The app also offers a “chat with a health educator” option, which offers the option of a live person (available by limited schedule) as well as the Roo chatbot, which is available 24/7 and targets teens. 

Once the Roo chatbot is open, users are given “featured” questions such as “What is the right age to have sex for the first time?” “Does watching gay porn mean you’re gay?” “When do I know what pronouns to use?” and “What will happen to me if I masturbate too much?”

When asking a question, the Roo chatbot often suggests videos, many of which show explicit images and provide scientifically questionable information, as previously reported by Live Action News. One example is the resource video, “What is Virginity?” which is suggested after the user hits the prompted question, “What is the right age to have sex for the first time?” 

The video claims virginity is “made up,” and adds, “The truth is that when we make our decision to become sexually active, we aren’t setting ourselves up to lose anything at all. We hope we are gaining things like intimacy, self insight, pleasure, and empowerment.” 

When asked to explain more about fertility, Roo’s response was, “Fertility awareness methods (AKA FAMS) means tracking your ovulation to prevent pregnancy, by avoiding sex or using a condom around the time you ovulate. It takes time and practice to use FAMs correctly.” Often, the Roo chatbot offers additional resources like Q Chat Space, which “provides online discussion groups for teens ages 13 to 19, facilitated by experienced staff who work at LGBTQ+ centers around the country.” The Q Chat Space is equipped with a “quick escape” button for children who do not want parents or guardians to see what the minor is accessing. 

Heavily targeting minors as a client base while receiving nearly $700 million in taxpayer funding, Planned Parenthood is one of the largest providers of “gender-affirming care.” Consequently, it is no surprise that Planned Parenthood teams up with PFLAG and CenterLink to support and help fund Q Chat — which states that its online forums are currently unavailable due to “budget cuts.”

Notably, the Spot On app also easily connects users to Planned Parenthood Direct, where users can order abortion pills and birth control or find the nearest abortion facility. 

Despite attempts to lure women to the Spot On app for assistance in natural family planning, the reality is that the app instead offers questionable cycle tracking and other information, and has little to do with tracking fertility for the purpose of conceiving despite claims by the PP Direct website.