Planned Parenthood Saved Me

I was in a committed long term relationship, and wanted a convenient, long term solution to birth control. Cue PP and an IUD. Two and a half years into a 10 year IUD I found out I was pregnant. Planned Parenthood made sure I had access to an emergency ultrasound to be sure that it wasn't an ectopic pregnancy, removed my IUD so that my pregnancy could continue and be healthy, and referred me to an OB so that I could receive the prenatal care me and my baby needed. Without Planned Parenthood, I may not have my curious, strong willed, happy, funny, beautiful daughter. Thank you Planned Parenthood!

When I was a teenager Planned Parenthood was there and I never experienced an unplanned pregnancy. Thanks to planned Parenthood young people don't have to end up like my parents. Let's not let our kids down. Let's not put future generations at risk.

I received better care through PP than I have many private doctors offices.I knew I was in good hands with any female issues, whether it was my uterus or my breasts. In 2010 I was approved for disability and I have Medicare. It’s very upsetting to me that I can’t continue my care through them. I’ve used their services off and on for over 40 years. They are absolutely an important service.

This week, Paul Ryan announced the vote to defund Planned Parenthood and dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Both of these actions are a death sentence for millions of women across the US. The GOP thinks that the 8,000 - 9,000 community health centers in the country will be able to handle women’s health needs, but that’s just not true. (And these stories often show why.) I was so upset when I heard about it, I started re-sharing stories from this blog, and then decided to start asking for new ones. Share yours if you can!

I can't believe it's been 2 years since all this happened-- though this blog exists largely as a testament to the amazing resonance we've all shared, I still think about our work together often. Thanks, y'all, and happy birthday to us.

love, deanna 

Without Planned Parenthood I would have been dead before I was 20.

May Planned Parenthood live long and prosper. I have been donating to them for years now out of gratitude for the wonderful life I have now. It wouldn't have been possible without their services.

When I was 17 I was felled by severe abdominal pain and was sent to the hospital.  They decided that it was probably a dermoid cyst and prescribed antibiotics.  Throughout that summer they kept upping the dosage but it didn't seem to do anything and I just couldn't afford the costs, so I stopped taking the pills.  A couple of months later I passed out at work and was sent home.  I decided to go to Planned Parenthood as I had no doctor, no insurance and no money.  They found that the cyst had grown to the size of a large grapefruit and could burst at any moment.  Two days later I was under the knife and the doctors told me that the cyst HAD burst and that I was in imminent danger of dying of peritonitis.  Thanks to the quick action of Planned Parenthood, I am here to tell you about this...we need them for much more than contraception (although that is terribly important too).  Please help support them!

Every time I have been in a Planned Parenthood office I received nothing but gracious care.  And when I look around the waiting room I see so many men and women there for so many different reasons.  I don’t know where else most of us would have to go without them.

One month when I was an uninsured 19 year-old college student, my period was a week late. I was too poor to even buy a pregnancy test, and the ob-gyn at the school clinic had been brusque and judgmental the last time I'd been in for a check-up, so I was too scared to go there for a test. I couldn't afford an abortion and couldn't face the thought of being shunned for an unwed pregnancy. I seriously considered suicide. One sleepless night I decided to email the local Planned Parenthood. I told them my "friend" thought she might be pregnant and couldn't afford an abortion. Less than 24 hours later, I got an email from an employee there, saying that my friend could come get a free pregnancy test, and that if she needed an abortion they would help her get one regardless of financial resources. No matter what, they said, they would help. I felt so much safer, knowing that someone was on my side, and wouldn't judge me. For the first time that week I was calm enough to leave the house and go to class. My period started that afternoon, so I never did need to go in, but I will always be  grateful to PP for telling a terrified girl that someone was on her side.

I have to have my second colpo in a year. The first one I had student health insurance to cover. But I've graduated and still have no job so Planned Parenthood is my only option. A colpo can cost up to $800 without insurance but my PP only charges $300 and on top of that they have a loan program to cover half the charge. Guess who provides the loan program? Not the government, but a local woman's roller derby team whose teammate died of stage 4 cervical cancer. She had suffered sexual abuse and avoided getting annual exams. The team raised money for her treatment but it was too late for her. They donated the money to PP and have held fundraisers since. When I found out I cried my eyes out. Incredibly frustrated and sad that women aren't getting the care they need but also thankful that these women who lost a teammate and friend are turning that grief into something positive that helps women like me.