As a Medicaid recipient, this is what ‘defunding’ Planned Parenthood means to me

I’m deeply troubled by the continued attacks on women’s access to reproductive health care. My own congressman, Daniel Lipinski, has a long-standing history of voting to “defund” Planned Parenthood. What defunding means: Medicaid would no longer reimburse Planned Parenthood for health services. What that means to me should it ever happen, as a Medicaid recipient: Loss of access to quality reproductive health care.

In a recent meeting with Representative Lipinski, I was provided a list of Federally Qualified Health Centers as alternative places for women’s health care. In addition to significant waitlists and lack of full range of birth control options, I also came across … a dentist.

I asked my congressman if he had ever visited a Planned Parenthood facility, to which he replied he hadn’t. It is mind-boggling to me that any members of Congress would consistently vote for a “defund” when they haven’t ever step a foot inside one of the facilities to learn about the wide array of services provided.

Planned Parenthood was there for me when I faced barriers accessing the birth control method I wanted at an FQHC. It’s time our elected officials personally familiarize themselves before voting to take health care away from those who need it the most.