Women need and deserve a safe place to talk about their reproductive health. I am 24, and I am a virgin. I simply haven’t been in love yet, and so I haven’t made love. I’m still a woman, though. I want to regulate my periods and manage my cramps with birth control, I want to know that everything is normal with pelvic exams and pap smears, I want caring hands to check for lumps; but mostly I want support.

My physician, freely, frankly, and without judgement, holds a safe space for me to ask the questions that make this patriarchy squirm. I leave feeling empowered in my sexual and reproductive health, and perhaps more importantly, my womanhood. All women, from the prepubescent to the post-menopausal, from the virgins to the experienced, deserve this empowerment. Comprehensive reproductive health care extend well-beyond the extremely important physical treatment and prevention; it’s about supporting women in their womanhood.