Guest post written by Kirsten Perridge.
This is going to be a personal post. It’s for those of you who oppose Planned Parenthood and abortion rights. You are now a part of my sex life, because you are working to change laws that will directly impact me.
I have read the literature circulating within the pro-life movement. One of the big points they make is that women don’t really need PP for health care, we have other good options. Another is that “optional” abortion is being used as birth control.
Here’s my situation: We are uninsured. That means I pay cash and negotiate directly with providers. Last time I went to a non-PP clinic I was charged separately by the doctor, the lab, and the clinic. I once paid $400.00 to be diagnosed – not treated – for a urinary tract infection. I priced health insurance a couple months ago and for us it would cost $600.00 every month. We cannot afford it. I want to get a tubal ligation to prevent pregnancy. My husband and I have two children, and we are struggling financially to provide for them – let alone more. I have other health problems. A tubal ligation costs over $8000.00. I cannot get one. I have cried over that. We are using condoms as birth control, and condoms sometimes fail. That’s how I ended up pregnant with my first child. Every month I wait nervously to see that I am not pregnant. It is a huge source of anxiety. If I get pregnant I am left with a terrible choice. I will not be able to properly care for my two children if I get pregnant again. I really wouldn’t want the baby. I would be in terrible pain. The advice I see from conservatives online is that “if you’re responsible enough to have sex you’re responsible for the baby.” The only way I could realistically stop having sex is to divorce my husband.
People might question why I would need to pay $8000 for a procedure if we’re so poor we can’t afford it. Why wouldn’t we get reduced rates through PP or Obamacare? People don’t realize that the working poor are really struggling. We make just enough disqualify us from getting assistance but not enough to afford full price health insurance. My husband works for a small company that is not required to provide it. I stay home with the kids rather than put them into substandard cheap childcare. We are hit on both sides.
I have decided for myself that if I get pregnant again I will terminate. It’s not what I want. I want to get my tubes tied. Do you see the impossible situation that lack of access to basic procedures leaves me with? What would you do? You have strong moral ideas about a potential child. What about my older kids? Are they precious? What about their futures?
Simplistic answers will not fix the abortion issue. If the pro-life movement wants to see women carry their pregnancies to term they need to support, not judge women. You guys need to stop making us out to be monsters. You need to offer real alternatives and solutions for our healthcare crisis. That or get out of my sex life with my husband.
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