Debbie says:

This post is part of the My Planned Parenthood blog carnival, hosted by What Tami Said.

I used Planned Parenthood for gynecological health and birth control as a young woman without much money when I was in my 20s. That’s a long time ago, but what I remember is spartan offices, good service, respect, and extremely reasonable prices. I never needed an abortion (as Melissa McEwan says in her carnival post at Shakesville: “I’ve never wanted to say [that I haven’t had an abortion], because it always felt like distancing myself from people who have had abortions (and it was frankly no one else’s business either way). But now it’s important to acknowledge that truth as part of explaining why Planned Parenthood is so valuable to me.”

During my college years, I helped a friend to get an illegal abortion (my father, whose memory is a blessing, helped us find someone who would do it). It was a very disturbing and scary experience, including both surreptitious “meets” on busy city street corners and not-quite-sufficient care. If I had needed or wanted an abortion at any time in my life after it became legal, Planned Parenthood is certainly where I would have gone, and I would have felt confident that I would get good care and respect there.

And so would you, if you need their care today. Please, if you can, donate to Planned Parenthood–in Kansas, where they have almost been forced out of business, in Indiana, where Tami is recommending them, or in your own home town.