I don’t have an especially moving story, but I think it’s a very common one. I got my own insurance for the first time when I started graduate school. The insurance program they offered to teacher’s assistants had better coverage than my parents’ insurance, but I found out after signing up for it that it was not widely accepted.

I had trouble finding an OB/GYN that would accept the insurance, but Planned Parenthood did. I was in a long-term relationship, and we had had at least one condom break before. I didn’t want my life to come crashing to a halt because of a broken condom.

At the same time, I also had really quite terrible period cramps, from which I would be physically ill the first day or two of it every month, which is not good for making deadlines in grad school. Planned Parenthood helped me get an IUD for next to nothing, which sorted out both of my problems. I don’t care what anyone else says, I will always be grateful that I could get affordable reproductive care when I needed it.