I grew up in the Midwest. My mother had a child when she was in her teens, and from a very young age she talked to me about birth control. I went to her when I wanted to get on the pill. She said we couldn’t go through my father’s insurance– he would be too upset to know. So she took me to Planned Parenthood, which gave me affordable, anonymous care.

Every month for many years, I saw the same nurse when I came to pick up my pills, and then I watched as she lost all her hair to her battle with cancer. After my state shut down that clinic, I later saw her somewhere else and was thrilled to see she had been winning that battle. I was still pretty young, and I didn’t say anything to her. But if I could see that nurse today, I would thank her for being there for me all those years.

I went on to graduate college, travel the world, and live a healthy and successful life because my mother had the foresight to know a that if I had a child I might not get those opportunities, and because Planned Parenthood was there to offer me the means to prevent a pregnancy I didn’t want. I am so, so grateful I had those options available to me, and I will always advocate for these options to be easily and freely available all over this country.