Allison Janney and Chuck Lorre launch fundraising campaign for Planned Parenthood

Former The West Wing star Allison Janney and Chuck Lorre, the creator of her new TV show Mom, are throwing their support behind women's health organisation Planned Parenthood by spearheading a new fundraising campaign.

Lorre and the show's team made a $250,000 (£193,200) donation to help raise awareness of the organisation's efforts to provide medical care and family planning for people in the U.S. Allison and Lorre, longtime supporters of the organisation, announced the initiative on Thursday (18May17).

"In Los Angeles County alone, we answer approximately 2,000 calls each day from people asking us for help," Sue Dunlap, president-CEO of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, says. "Across the country, millions of women and men are relying on Planned Parenthood health centres for their basic care - like birth control, life-saving cancer-screenings, and STD testing and treatment.

"We are committed to being here for them, no matter what. Generous support from our community fuels this work, and we are honoured that the team behind Mom is launching this campaign at this critical time."

The donation comes after the Republican majority in the House of Representatives voted to repeal Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act earlier this month (May17), passing President Donald Trump's controversial American Health Care Act, which, if passed by the Senate, would eliminate funds for many of Planned Parenthood's services.

Janney and Lorre are not the only celebrities to pledge their support to the organisation - Kim Kardashian and her sisters Khloe and Kourtney visited a Planned Parenthood centre in Los Angeles last week (ends12May17).

Lena Dunham, Charlize Theron, Lily Collins, Anna Paquin, Connie Britton, Scarlett Johansson, and America Ferrera have also voiced their unwavering support for Planned Parenthood.