I want to share with you one story about Planned Parenthood: my own story. I would like to show you that your decision to defund this organization has an impact beyond the scope of your current thought. I will be polite, logical, and honest, and I hope that you hear me. It is something of a long letter, but there's some back story, so I beg your patience.
I would consider myself a very average American. I am from a small town, grew up as an only child of a single mother, and checked the lowest income box when I applied for my FAFSA before college. I was valedictorian of my high school class and went to a modest liberal arts school in Iowa where I could be near my grandmother. When I graduated with my BA, I joined the Peace Corps to travel the world and serve others.
The Peace Corps gave me some of the best medical care I've ever received. I was rarely ill as a child and didn't like the extra expenses in college, but in Peace Corps, this government program, I was treated to rounds of shots and nicely staffed offices. I learned about my body and how to treat it well. I exercised, lost weight, and ate healthy. I stayed in Cambodia for two more years following Peace Corps, working as a librarian and paying down my student debt to zero. I took advantage of the cheap system of health care in SE Asia and made sure that all my dental visits and doctor concerns were managed.
There was one thing I couldn't find in Cambodia: a gynecologist. But, since I was young and healthy, with no problems, and a relatively recent screen through Peace Corps, I didn't worry about it.
I decided that I wanted to return to America for graduate school in my new field of choice: librarianship. I had done some traveling, ruminated about my future career path, and knew that I needed more credentials to follow that path. I moved to Pittsburgh.
Let me summarize the main points so far. I am an average American edging into lucky and privileged territory. I was able to go from a tiny town in Nebraska to a college education to working overseas to save and pay off my student loans. I was extremely healthy, financially secure, and exceedingly independent.
I moved to Pittsburgh, got an apartment with the help of a friend's parents, and started school. Let me add that I am lucky just once more, to have a friend I could stay with, a car (that I purchased from my mother) to drive across the States in, and the opportunities of school that were before me.
The time I spent in graduate school was difficult, because living in America is difficult. I didn't have health insurance (the premiums were almost as much as rent per month and I was beyond my mother's insurance). I didn't have a full-time job like I had the two years previously (and, arguably two years before that). I didn't have a Peace Corps medical office to call (the school med center was there, though they had to refer me out).
I had saved (what I thought was) a lot of money, about $6,000, and paid off all previous debt, but it went fast. Between rent, car expenses, setting up an empty apartment with used goods, and the variety of other expenses of America, I was struggling. I was working a minimum wage internship, taking every opportunity to earn more elsewhere, while still working as a student. I moved in with friends to save money, shared my commute with co-workers, and rarely bought anything new. This is, unfortunately, not an unusual story for millennials, at least in my circles of friends.
Now, here may be a TMI moment. While I was sexually active, I was not sexually irresponsible. You may not be interested in my sex life (and I sincerely hope you aren't), but you need to know that I was not having unprotected sex, or having one-night flings, or being unsafe. I don't think that this matters in this discourse, but I see it brought up in many conservative discussions, so perhaps it is important for you. I take responsibility for myself and my health, and I wanted to be respectful of my partners. I learned in Peace Corps that getting screened and tested was a proactive way to demonstrate that respect.
I also wanted to take my own action to prevent pregnancy, just in case. It was easy in Cambodia, because the monthly dose of the pill only cost about a dollar. I was at the end of my bulk supply. I looked into other options, did my research, and decided on an IUD.
The student med center didn't do IUDS, but Planned Parenthood would. Pennsylvania has a woman's health program (Thanks, PA!) that allowed low-income women (like myself) access to health care. That meant that I could go into Planned Parenthood and get an IUD for free. For me, the IUD was a way to be constantly and consistently safe, for five years, for a minimal price (for the state and for me). It managed some menstrual symptoms, prevented pregnancy, and didn't require daily attention.
It was perfect. I set up the appointment for the preliminary exam. By this time, it had been about 3-4 years since I had seen a gynecologist. For a mid-20s woman, that's not abnormal. We should have a check-up every two years, to check for cervical cancer. In order to get an IUD, they gave me a pelvic exam. During that pelvic exam, they found something that required a procedure. I won't explain the graphic details of this, but it required me to go to the hospital.
Here is my luck again... that procedure was quick and easy, outpatient, and paid for with my PA women's health insurance. That procedure took place in a local hospital, that I could get to on public transport, and that took only a few hours of recovery time. There were no complications. It wasn't as serious as some.
Planned Parenthood took care of me, both with their response to my pelvic exam and subsequent referral to a hospital, and their ability to provide me with the lowest cost (both for the state and for me) birth prevention method available. The cost, even if I hadn't had the women's insurance, would have been far less than the cost otherwise.
I didn't have an abortion. I was able to prevent pregnancy. Not everyone is as fortunate... to be able to have control over their birth control, and to not suffer an abusive situation. I was lucky... again... to not have to make that choice. I know that many of you disagree with the idea of abortion, but that choice is not easy... nor is it yours to make.
Planned Parenthood was there when I was working to improve myself. Many conservative values radiate around the idea that a person can pull themselves up and make a better life. I have done that. I am still doing that. When I was working towards my goal, the price of school and the cost of living were a difficult cross to bear, but I'm back to enriching, full-time work and paying into the economy with purchases and taxes. I am not reliant on state money, and I'm paying back my student loans, almost free from debt. I am an educator as well, a confident shaper of young minds.
But, I was lucky:
- I had friends who supported me. People who could pick me up from the doctor or take me out for dessert after a difficult appointment. Not all women do.
- I had a vehicle, ample (thought unreliable at times) public transport, and easy access. Not all women do.
- I had a state that supported women's health through their insurance program. Pennsylvania, thank you. Not all women do.
- I had the education to request, and sometimes demand, contraception. Both for myself and with my male partners. Not all women do.
- I had the confidence and the control and the willpower to demand contraception from my (wonderful) male partners. Unfortunately, not all women do.
- I had a safety net in my wallet, in my family, in my friends. I had money in savings. Not all women do.
- I had access to another medical center and hospital. Not all women do.
- I had zero student debt, and could afford the education I was receiving. Not all women do.
- I had a job that understood and accepted my need for recovery time, even though I didn't use it. Not all women do.
- I had a finite date for my minimum wage internship, which was a stepping stone to a salary job. Not all women do.
- I had a Planned Parenthood location that wasn't picketed (that often) and that was private. Not all women do.
I was very lucky. Not all women are. I needed Planned Parenthood, and many, many other women need it more.
My story is not unusual. In fact, I heard my story in many of my friends. Planned Parenthood is easy, inexpensive, helpful, positive, non-judmental, and sensitive. For young women and men across the country, support for their health is available. Whether it be for contraception, responsible testing, or abuse support, women and men are using these clinics to benefit themselves, and to benefit America. They are responsible citizens working for their better life.
By defunding Planned Parenthood, you are preventing people like me, a responsible, hard-working adult woman, from accessing birth control that saves tax-dollar money. You're also preventing it for the millions of women who are in similar need of a place that cares about them. I had it easy here, but in that one heartbeat of time in my life when I truly needed them, they were there.
Please, I beg you, do not defund Planned Parenthood. Doing so does not solve your mission to end all abortion, but puts that many more lives in danger. Planned Parenthood is not the enemy here, and their efforts have mediated the numbers of abortions through providing safe and easy access to contraception. Defunding them makes that contraception more difficult and restricts health care for those that desperately need it. Please do not take this away from the women who need it.
All the best,
Kelsey
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