Some people gasp at the very words, turn a slight pink shade, or turn away when they hear someone talking about Planned Parenthood. Me? I think about responsibility, health, and empowerment.
Supporting Planned Parenthood is a family tradition in our house. My grandmother was an amazing woman — she was one of five women in her medical school class and she fought tooth and nail to get women’s rights, equal treatment for all women, and yes, a Planned Parenthood in her very own little town in Pennsylvania. She stood up for women, and their right to control their futures; whether through birth control, health care, or even abortions.
My parents taught us to stand up these rights too and when I went on to become a social worker in the Bronx, I encouraged my clients to stand up for themselves. I remember one day when a girl (who I had sent off to get birth control) came into my office and dumped out her brown bag of “goodies” from the clinic on my desk and said, ok, tell me more about all of this.
I had to take a deep breath, control the pink shade in my cheeks, and have a serious talk. I wasn’t comfortable, I wasn’t suggesting she go out and be promiscuous, I was suggesting that IF she was going to be sexually active, she should protect herself from disease and pregnancy in the best way she possibly could. This young girl is now a successful, working member of society, she is married to a loving man, and is currently age appropriately pregnant with her first baby and over the moon about it. That is a success story. That is what Planned Parenthood means to me, and that is the history that I pride myself on.
Planned Parenthood is about providing successful outcomes, happy futures, and happy families. I was able to plan when I wanted to have my children, when I was ready to have them, and love them, and care for them, and it has meant everything in the world to me. We take these freedoms for granted, but as the extreme right seeks to control your rights…fight for them and educate yourself about what is happening, www.pphp.org.
