Planned Parenthood Saved Me

Planned Parenthood is dedicated to women's health. We're posting stories from people whose lives were saved or changed because they had access to affordable, compassionate healthcare through Planned Parenthood. (Not affiliated with PP, by the way. Questions? Get in touch with @deanna on Twitter.)

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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!

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I went to PP for the first time at 18 years old while I was in college.  My father was a raging lunatic about his daughters and the mere possibility that we could be unchaste.  There was a 0% possibility of me asking him for birth control and him still paying for my college tuition.  PP allowed me to get yearly exams and birth control until I was able to get my own insurance and gynecological services.  I was dirt poor during college, thanks Dad, and even $15/month (back in the 80s) would have been impossible to afford for birth control. I think I paid $3 to PP.  They saved me and I owe them.  I will never forget.  And I will fight for them and for other young women until I can’t any longer.  Thanks to PP, I was able to stay in college (without having an unwanted pregnancy), graduate and have a very good professional career.  And, sadly, the day I graduated from college my dad asked me to assure him that I was still a virgin (creep!).  I said Yes.

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When I was in school, I couldn’t afford to visit an OB-GYN so I went to Planned Parenthood for my routine Pap tests, one of which picked up a precancerous cervical tumor. I shudder to think what could have happened had it not been for Planned Parenthood and that Pap test.

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My parents married in 1956 when my mother was 15 and pregnant. They had a shotgun wedding after my grandfather gave her a good beating. I was born in 1965, the year that the supreme Court decision on Griswold v Connecticut legalized birth control nation wide. My parents had no choice and ended up life long alcoholics with four children that they never wanted. I had a childhood filled with drunken chaos, abuse and neglect. 

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.

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Planned Parenthood did not save my life...but a mammogram did. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 1/2 years ago I was furious and I did not want to jump on the pink train. I just wanted to get that mastectomy and move on with my life. I didn't need chemo so I was able to move on sooner than most and with my hair. No one really needed to know about my diagnosis unless I told them. I liked that. However a funny thing happened on my way to recovery. A breast cancer cluster emerged at the elementary school where I had taught before retirement. At least 5 other teachers from that school were diagnosed. We had an instant new connection and I realized that the journey through cancer really does take place in a community of support. I have met many fellow travelers in my journey since then and each meeting cements my belief that the journey is better with support. I transitioned to Medicare a few months after diagnosis so I had a guarantee of coverage for my pre existing condition. The ACA extends that protection to everyone. I am passionate about affordable and accessible mammograms for every woman. Planned Parenthood offers that to women who may have no other access. I have called my Congressman to protest his planned vote to repeal the ACA and defund Planned Parenthood. Since no federal funds are used by PP to fund abortion I requested that he find some other way to voice his objection to abortion...some way that doesn't result in the deaths of women.

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When I was in college I had a great opportunity for summer work away from my hometown.  Not knowing any doctors in that city I made an appointment at a Planned Parenthood clinic for my annual gynecological exam and pap smear.  The doctor did a breast exam and alerted me to the development of a 1 cm. mass in my left breast.  Although subsequent surgery and pathology revealed it was not malignant I learned that I had fibrocystic breast disease and was alerted to the best practices needed to ensure earliest detection of possible future breast tumors.  I am forever and always grateful for their compassionate care.

[plannedparenthoodsavedme]

Planned Parenthood Saved Me

Not having health insurance for many years, Planned Parenthood could at least provide me with my womencare visits, pap and cancer screenings. I could not afford to see the doctor and felt that I could do the minimal and take care of what I could. They provided mammograms for me. In 2006, I had been in two car accidents, losing my insurance through work, I continued going to PP. I had lumps in my left breast and they went further in imaging diagnostics. It was benign, but if it had been cancer, they would have helped me to get onto Medicaid. 

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.

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... And we’re back!

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!

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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.

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Announcement: We won an award from Planned Parenthood!

And by "we," I mean all of us who have contributed stories to this blog. That's right, Planned Parenthood gave their first-ever social media Maggie Award to us today! I went to the awards luncheon in Washington, DC, and here's what I said:

First, thank you Planned Parenthood, not only for your health care and advocacy, but for championing women without fail, with what seems like without compromise. That’s rare in our political climate. Planned Parenthood has successfully negotiated that emotional connection we all feel to the work they do, whether that’s through their clinics or their advocacy, and turned it into a relationship. They’ve embraced social media, both their own properties and the wider world’s conversations.

But also, I’m sharing this award with all the women who shared their stories on Planned Parenthood Saved Me. It’s a crying shame that we live in a world where this is an act of bravery, but that’s what it was. The women that said, “I would have bled to death if it weren’t Planned Parenthood,” or “Planned Parenthood’s staff were the only people who understood me after I was assaulted,” or “Planned Parenthood found my cancer.” That’s what you do. That is your work, and we thank you.

Which is the last thing I want to share– I really want people to understand that PP Saved Me blew up not because Rachel Maddow read from it on her show, or that it was in the Washington Post and a dozen other major major outlets. More than half the traffic to the site came before any major media mention, and that traffic came from Facebook, Twitter & Tumblr.

Women sharing their stories with one another made the difference her. Our stories matter, more than ever.

I'm not just blowin' smoke when I say this is our award, either. You all have been incredible, and I got choked up on stage talking about your bravery and excellence. Thank you, deeply, for your commitment and contributions. If I could hug you all, I would.

love, deanna 

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Saved from scars

When I was a child I experienced some fairly brutal and long term abuse.  This left me with a level of uterine scarring that cannot be helped, and makes it impossible for me to carry a child to viability.  I would be dead long before a child could live.

I am careful, but birth control fails.

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

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Planned Parenthood of Missouri saved my bacon TWICE!

Back when I was eighteen, I was "kind of" seeing a guy who had the awful habit of "accidentally" losing the condom halfway thru sex. The first time it happened I took a cab (20 miles one way!) to Planned Parenthood for some emergency contraception. Worked a charm. I really thought the condom incident was a one-off accident and continued seeing the boy.

The second time, I realized he was doing it on purpose. I couldn't take off from work, but begged the guy to go to the clinic for me, but he would not since he "pulled out" and thus considered it impossible that I be pregnant. Well, he was WRONG, and I was.

That Planned Parenthood location did not offer abortion, but referred to to a clinic that did. That clinic was three hours away and I had no car, but managed to get a female co-worker to drive me.

The ONLY thing I felt afterward was relief.

I am thirty now, married to an awesome man, and we have four kids together. He's an involved dad, the exact kind of man who deserves to be a father.

I am so glad I do NOT have children by anyone as irresponsible as my old hookup. Abortion is a great tool for family planning and nobody should be ashamed of using it. I see young single women all around me who aren't ready for motherhood, whose lives are yet chaotic, who are bullied into having babies they aren't ready for. There is no need for this! Have your children when YOU are ready. Don't just passively accept whatever your biology blindly hands you.

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.

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Planned Parenthood saved my life!

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!

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When I was 15, I foolishly had unprotected sex and became pregnant. Thanks to the abortion services at Planned Parenthood, the course of my entire life was set back on track. I am eternally grateful.

[plannedparenthoodsavedme]

there are so many different reasons

When I was 24 I got a urinary tract infection for the first time.  I proceeded to get one every two or three months for the next year.  Each time it set in faster, and was more painful.  If you have had one, you know what I’m talking about!  I had no health insurance at this point—the package offered at my job cost so much that I had to choose between insurance and a place to live, and I chose to continue paying rent.   I received treatment at Planned Parenthood for free: the visit, the test, and the antibiotics. 

If left untreated, a urinary tract infection can spread to the kidneys and cause permanent damage, or the infection can spread to the bloodstream and lead to sepsis.  This is fatal.  It scares me to think that something so easily treated could have been the death of me. 

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.

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PP reassured me

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.

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Women saving women

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.