Today I painted a painting of Margaret Sanger. She was the founder of Planned Parenthood and an advocate for educating women about their bodies and their reproductive cycles. I highly recommend reading the wikipedia page on her, as it details her life far better than I can.
I drew her giving a serious side eye to the crazy people trying to defund Planned Parenthood right now.
I would like to share with you how Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood have touched my life.
I became sexually active at a young age. My parents were comfortable sharing information about sex and sexuality with me, but I was far more comfortable going to Planned Parenthood for contraception than to my parents. Every month I would head to Planned Parenthood to get my new case of pills. My little yellow prescription card that was checked off each month was second only to my driver’s license in importance in my wallet. I protected that baby at all costs.
When I was young and had no health insurance, my yearly visit to my local Planned Parenthood clinic was the only time I saw a health care provider. They had a sliding scale that meant that even though I worked at a minimum wage job, I was able to afford that one visit per year out of my own paycheck. They would check in both physically and mentally, making sure that if I needed follow up care I knew how and where to find it.
Once when I had a condom fail, I was forced to visit the clinic to procure Plan B, or the morning after pill. I was in NO WAY ready to have a child, and I had access to that type of contraception because of Planned Parenthood. Today as a mother of two, I can not tell you how thankful I am that I was not forced to have a child at a time in my life when I was not prepared for it.
Growing up, I understood the reproductive cycle and what was going to be happening to my body. I knew the way a woman’s body worked. I knew my own physiology. I knew that because, as I said, my parents were free flowing with that kind of information. Every woman does not grow up in a family like mine, however. Planned Parenthood is there to educate and inform and to offer healthcare to men, women, and children.
In my life I have pestered and prodded many of my friends to visit Planned Parenthood. Whether it was for an annual exam or birth control I have physically taken friends there to get there services, because there is NO reason not to.
All of this is to say that I believe in Margaret Sanger’s dream of educating women about their bodies and their reproductive options. I can’t state this firmly enough, I support Planned Parenthood. I support them, because what is the alternative? Whether or not you are pro-choice, you should always be pro-education. To understand your body and how it functions, to be aware of the mechanics of intercourse and reproduction is not harmful. It is vitally important that all of us have easy access to healthcare, and Planned Parenthood is a place where millions of people do so.
So I am putting my money where my mouth is. For the first 25 people willing to go to this page and donate at least $25 to Planned Parenthood before October 15, 2015, I will send you a print of this Margaret Sanger painting. All you have to do is go here and donate. Make sure you enter your email address and name so I can contact you to get your mailing info.
You are awesome, my friend. That is all.