Saturday, September 13, 2008

Since we are sharing Plan B stories...

I have taken Plan B both before and after it became "Over the Counter".

My senior year of high school I needed Plan B. I had never been to Planned Parenthood, but a trusted adult in my life helped me look up their number. (And let me skip her class. She is awesome, and I love her for that to this day). They didn't judge, or question me. They did ask if I was interested in getting on other forms of birth control, to prevent such a need in the future. (And, for the record, I did get on the Pill...)

I took it again in 2005 or 2006. Another condom malfunction. It was still prescription, but I knew that I could get it from Planned Parenthood without any issue. They were completely polite, and at this point it was on their file that I was basically allergic to anything that would keep the baby hatch empty (pills, patch, etc...), so they knew that I had to depend on condoms.

The most recent time I took Plan B was in 2007, early in the year. It had just become over the counter, and I didn't have a car at the time, so I went into the clinic on campus. They sold me the pills, but I certainly felt as if I was in a much more hostile environment then my two times before. Perhaps it was just the staff there was young and in training. (Usually nursing students). It still felt very much like I was judged for being morally loose or something. I actually wonder if I would have come back the second or third time if I had had such a poor experience on my first try.

I have written before about how much I love Planned Parenthood.

I really do.

They provide such an amazing service for our community. To be able to receive medical care without receiving religious judgment or disrespect is something that seems like a fundamental right, yet it is something that many women are still fighting for today. We are all indebted to Planned Parenthood for standing with us in that fight.

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