I stand with Planned Parenthood.

I'm just going to come right out and say it: I am SO sick of this government/politics/shutdown/Republican/Democrat mudslinging. SICK OF IT. I'm also sick of getting on Facebook and hearing people pointing fingers and blaming people when really a lot of the time they're just reading -and reposting- other ignorant status updates. While the government budget has a lot to do with many issues, one that is huge- is the defunding of Planned Parenthood. So I'm going to speak out for PP, in my little section of the interwebs, and maybe some doubters will actually look at it and say, "hmm, interesting, maybe I should put down my dagger." Probably not, but hey, let's give it a shot, shall we?

I am a big advocate of comprehensive sex education because it works. I am 24 years old, not a virgin (sorry to anyone that still was holding on to a shred of hope that I was/am) and have never been pregnant. Part of the reason for my non child bearing is because my mother took me to my first gyno appt when I told her that I was considering doing the deed. She went with me and put me on the Pill. 

There were periods of time where I was without insurance, but I continued to need The Pill, so I went to PP. Planned Parenthood had several nurse practioners that were frank, nice, and treated me like a HUMAN BEING. I have had several nurses at my doctor's office that would look down on me for being unmarried and seeking contraception, but not at PP.

When I was 20 years old, I had my first of several abnormal paps come back. PP discovered it. Because I went to them, and because I could go to them and afford a pap smear even without insurance. I could afford The Pill. I could afford tests and treatments that I needed. Without PP, I may have not realized that I had bad cells until it was too late.

PP gets a lot of talk about abortions, but out of their total services, abortions only count for 3% of what they do. They do education, paps, STD testing, the morning after pill, vaccinations, treatments, and yes, abortions.

Simply put: I have never become pregnant because I didn't want to. Because I protected myself. I chose to be proactive instead of reactive. I'm not saying that all unexpected pregnancies are unwanted or mistakes- most are blessings! I'm just saying, I didn't ever want to be in the position where I was a broke college student and worried about how I was going to feed my child.

So here I am: I support Planned Parenthood, and I've never had an abortion. That seems strange,  huh? No. Because Planned Parenthood is way more than just abortions.