Global Women's Voices: Share Personal Stories

Lauren, United States

Submitted by: Lauren

About a month ago, my boyfriend and I had a slip-up with a condom and the experience was so horrifying that I decided that I wanted to take the plan B pill. I was aware that my best option for obtaining the pill was to go to a Planned Parenthood clinic. My boyfriend and I went to Planned Parenthood when they opened the following morning, only to be completely harassed by a group of protesters who were calling me a sinner as they stood in a circle with their arms joined right in front of the entrance to the clinic. Thankfully, the clinic had supplied two escorts who walked my boyfriend and I into the clinic, but I was almost in tears from the experience of making my way through those protesters. They had no idea what I had been through the night before, and they have no idea why women go to clinics in the first place. Inside the clinic, I was struck by the amount of women waiting for the same type of service. It was so crowded that women were sitting on the floor, and all of us were on the verge of tears, or already in tears.
Luckily, the clinicians were very understanding, and I had no problem obtaining a plan B pill. However, when my boyfriend and I left the building, a stray protester who was trying to persuade me to change my mind followed us. It was incredibly surreal to be in that position, and wholly degrading to know that people are trying to take away my right to make a decision about my own body. No one is advocating for restrictions on the sale of condoms, pro-life groups are focusing all of their attention on women's choice of birth control. And no one will ever persuade me to give up the rights to my body. Let us all be strong and let us all fight for our right to make healthy sexual choices.

updated: 6/6/2006 2:58:00 PM