It was winter of my junior year at Utah State in Logan. I had just gotten married, which meant that I could no longer be covered under my parent’s health insurance plan. I had heard about student health plans, but I couldn’t afford that on my minimum wage salary — that barely covered my rent. Plus, I was young and healthy so I figured I could risk going without insurance.
I wasn’t ready to start a family yet, but I needed to find a resource that could help me cover this gap until I graduated and got a job.
Talking with my fellow married classmates, I learned that Planned Parenthood offered reproductive health care to people without health insurance. I had actually used Planned Parenthood as a teenager for Plan B, but didn’t know until I was married that they offered comprehensive reproductive healthcare. I was able to get an annual gynecological exam, including a pap smear and a breast exam, as well as a prescription for birth control. In return, I was asked to pay what I could afford, which meant that I paid what I would have if I had health insurance. I was excited to have children some day, but I wanted to wait until I had graduated and had a job with health insurance before bringing children into the world.
For two years, Planned Parenthood not only gave me the health care that I needed while I went to school and prepared myself for adulthood, but they also helped to educate me on my own body and health care needs. Soon after graduating, I got a job — which came with health insurance — and no longer needed assistance from Planned Parenthood, but I knew it would always be there for me if the time came that I found myself once again uninsured or in need of urgent care. I have indeed used them a couple of times over the years when I wasn’t able to get into my regular doctor’s office quickly enough.
Planned Parenthood recently announced they are going to have to close their St. George and Logan locations due a Trump administration order to freeze $2.8 million in Title X funding. This is money that would have gone towards health care needs like those I received when I was a young, married college student.
My story may be a uniquely Utah story, but it isn’t unique to me. When I heard about this cut and the consequential closing of the Logan office, I shared about my experience on Instagram and had a number of friends reach out and tell me that they, too, had used Planned Parenthood when they were in college and newlywed. Of course they had — after all that is how I had first learned about the program.
It’s what many of us were doing. But why were we doing it?
It was our only option at the time. Our health care system is full of coverage gaps. Organizations like Planned Parenthood help cover those gaps and provide services to those in our community that find themselves uninsured, and they do it on small and efficient budgets.
I now have a daughter who is graduating high school and getting ready to head to college. She will continue to be covered under my health insurance, but the only constant in life is change — so that may not always be the case. I’ve introduced her to Planned Parenthood as a resource for her in case she ever needs it, but soon that resource might not even be available to her.
Since my time in school, the Affordable Care Act has passed, but even that is under threat. We still need organizations like Planned Parenthood because they fill in the gaps within our system, and for some people, it may be their only option.
When I think about the world that I want to leave for my daughter and her posterity, I never imagined it would be less than what I had. This is not the legacy that I want to leave. If Planned Parenthood is closing its doors, I want it to be because they have done their job and are no longer needed, because we — as a society — have built a better safety net for everyone.
Until then, let’s continue striving for improved healthcare by fostering open dialogue. I encourage those who have utilized Planned Parenthood to share their personal experiences. To those who haven’t: Listen with an open mind.
It’s likely we all know someone who has benefited from these services, and their stories can teach us about the positive impact of this type of care. Contact your elected officials and inform them of the value you place on these services and urge them to support continued funding.
(Rachel Turk) Rachel Turk lives in Mountain Green with her two kids and Cavapoo named Gigi.
Rachel Turk lives in Mountain Green with her two kids and Cavapoo named Gigi. She is most likely to be found on the Jordan River, biking the trail or paddling the river.
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