I was 17 when I went to Planned Parenthood. No, I wasn’t pregnant and looking for abortion services, I hadn’t yet had sex, but I had a steady boyfriend–my first teenage relationship–and I was thinking about sex (quite a lot, in fact!). I wanted information on my options for birth control and to ask some questions and get medically sound advice from an objective and knowledgeable source. Up to this point, the “information” I had gotten was rumors and half-truths from other kids in school, a religious-based “Good girls don’t until they are married and want to have babies”, and a “Don’t even think about it…you’ll wreck your life!” from my well-meaning and caring, but anxious parents, who were not at all pleased that I was spending most of my free time outside of school and sports with my boyfriend.
I went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in a rural area, where my family was living at the time and where there was one doctor’s office for three towns away and everyone knew my parents. The staff and doctors at Planned Parenthood assured me of their confidentiality policy, made me feel welcome, treated me like an adult instead of a dumb kid. They assured me that my concerns and questions were very typical and that they could give me the information I needed, but that the decisions were up to me. I also made my boyfriend come with me; he didn’t want to because he was uncomfortable and embarrassed, but I insisted that this affected him too, that if we were mature enough to be considering having sex then we could talk about it like adults, and that we had nothing to be ashamed about (my roots in gender egalitarianism and sex-positivity go way back). In the end, I went back for a prescription for birth control pills, which were also a miraculous cure for my very painful periods that caused me to miss school and practices regularly (why hadn’t anyone told me that I didn’t have to suffer?!). I also had my first pelvic exam and Pap smear, which a friendly and gentle nurse talked me through. This positive experience ensured that I would get my annual exam every single year since then, either with my regular doctor when I had health insurance and at other Planned Parenthood locations when I didn’t. They charged me a small fee based on my income from two afterschool jobs and I qualified for the reduced price for my birth control pills. When I did decide to have sex, I would be responsible and protected.
Instead of becoming a possible teenage pregnancy statistic, I had taken a first step to taking charge of my reproductive and health care, setting a pattern for the rest of my life. The sliding scale fees at Planned Parenthood make it possible for anyone to access crucial reproductive health care, screening tests, and affordable contraception, and is often the only medical care option for low income people. I donate to Planned Parenthood every year because I am grateful to them for their services to the teenage and the adult me and because I believe in their mission of making reproductive health care available to all people, especially those in rural areas and low-income areas. Yes, Planned Parenthood provides abortion services (and abortion is a legal medical procedure in the US, whether or not you approve), but they also prevent abortions by providing access to family planning, and prevent serious medical conditions by providing screening for a variety of health concerns for both women AND men, most of whom are below the poverty level.
Thank you Planned Parenthood, for helping those that are often invisible to politicians and taxpayers, and shame on those politicians and religious leaders who would prioritize suffering over prevention (Indiana, I’m looking at you). If you are comfortable enough to have a job that provides health insurance or are able to afford health care, think for a moment about those that do not and please support Planned Parenthood for the health of ALL people.
You sound like a concerned and involved parent, so hopefully you have communicated this to your daughter well before she decides to have sex, not just with one version of The Talk, but with lots of little reinforcements.:) I think that you are correct about the fact that sex is a multi-faceted activity, not just a physical release, and should be taken seriously, especially by rookies 🙂 If you’ve given her that information and she has the self-esteem and self-confidence to make her decisions based on her own feelings AND has access to reproductive health care, she will be much… Read more »
@kaija24
Thanks, yes we are very involved with our kids and we attempt to communicate in an open fashion. One little tongue in cheek analogy we use for sex and the process is baseball. 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base, home plate. You dont get to home plate UNTIL you run the bases. 🙂
I dont have any personal knowledge of Planned Parenthood as an organization but it does sound like it is doing a good job. One of my issue’s in regards to contraception(i have a daughter and son) and the information needed is that many times the emotional element of early sex is overlooked. The mechanical stuff, such as how you get pregnant or get std’s is well explained but many times there is little or no input given to whether a young adolescent is even ready for sex. Sure the hormones are raging but that doesnt mean you are prepared for… Read more »
What a great story! I’m glad you were able to take charge for yourself and start out responsibly instead of making a mistake that you later regretted. 🙂