Dear Men,

If you had sex as a teen or very young man before you were married and your partner did not become pregnant, it is very likely that you have directly benefited from Planned Parenthood or a Planned Parenthood type program. If you were treated for an STD and didn’t want mommy or daddy to know, it is likely you used that type of program too.

I am personally grateful to have used a Planned Parenthood type program at the age of 18 (talking about those things to parents was not going to happen!). It allowed me to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, get a college education, get a job and for that young man and I to grow up and have two beautiful and well-loved children when we were mature enough and financially able to care for them. Since we became pregnant within 1 month of stopping birth control, I have no doubt our story would have looked very, very different. So this is just one reason why I strongly support the funding of Planned Parenthood and I hope that you do too.

Preventing as many abortions as possible is another one. Having worked with abused and neglected children with said college degree, children being born to parents who are ready and able to care for them is critically important too. On the practical side, it will save us all a ton of money and heartache.

And really, why the heck are we having this conversation now in 2015? When I used those programs back in 1981, I never dreamed that we’d even consider moving backwards.