Planned Parenthood Saved Me

I started writing this blog a couple days ago... when I had read some disturbing news... if you ask me. (And if you're visiting MY blog, you kind of did, so you'll have to either read it, or ignore it.)

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation has pulled it's funding for Planned Parenthood.

This makes me seriously sad.

Since then, they've rescinded this funding pull, but the wording of it is more of a "holy sh*t, we screwed up, is this salvageable at ALL?" type of CYA press release... You can read it here if you want.

Why am I so fired-up and passionate about this? Well, if it weren't for Planned Parenthood... there's a high possibility I'd have a child or two or maybe three by now with my ex-husband. That birth control was the best investment I've ever made. Yes, I wish I would have had children by now, and hoped to be a mother, but just not with him. I'm not quite ready for kids yet, but I'm hoping to get there someday, with someone who truly loves me, loves our life together, and will love our children so much. Planning parenthood really does save lives. I know my actual physical life may not have been threatened, but my quality of life definitely was, until I took it back. Now I have a blank canvas with which to plan some more someday.

I just posted my story on Planned Parenthood Saved Me, but it's MY blog and MY story, so I'm sharing it here too:

Years ago, I married a Canadian man, and moved from the US to Canada with him. I knew I wouldn't have health insurance, so before I lost my insurance (quit my job) I made sure to get a prescription for birth control, (we weren't ready to be parents.) That Rx would last me the first year or so of marriage. After that, I wasn't sure what I'd do.

I got my Rx filled at a pharmacy, and it cost $30.00, which I paid for a few months too. Until I found out that Planned Parenthood was in Canada as well. I happily hopped on the subway, and rode downtown to my appointment, where they asked NUMEROUS questions about my health, migraines, and we came up with a birth control solution for me. Their monthly supply was only $10.00, which as an unemployed housewife, I was very excited about. And the free exams were heaven-sent as well. My (now ex) husband never got a job outside of our home-based eBay business until after I left him. He was verbally abusive, and physically abusive once.

I can not imagine having children with him. Years later, I can look back and only feel sorry for the woman I used to be, but I'm not her anymore. Planned Parenthood gave me all the tools I needed to make proper decisions about my future. If I'd had children with him, we would have been one of those couples who stay together for the kids, hating each other the entire time.

I'm so thankful that their organization is as wide spread and as international as it is. That meager $10 I managed to come up with every month has been the best return on investment I could ever imagine.

I don't have children with him, and that has probably saved my life. I owe everything I am and everything I have to Planned Parenthood. You have my undying gratitude and support.

Thank you. 


I've done a COMPLETE 180 since then. Those years seem like SUCH another life for me. I used to be this mousy, shy, intimidated, scared of everything girl. Now I'm happy to say that I'm a confident woman who has not a shred of that girl remaining in her. I know that I deserve a life so much better than what my ex-husband could have offered to me and my future kids. I would have busted my ass to be happy with it too, but I'm glad I don't have to. I'm glad I don't have to settle for something I don't deserve.

That's part of the reason I don't go by Shelley anymore. I'm not her. She was okay, and if any of you loved or cared for her, you're going to freaking LOVE me now... Changing my name back to what is on my birth certificate, back to what's on my license, back to my Great Great Great Grandmother's name, back to Maren, has been so freeing, liberating, and crucial in my quest to take the power back. I've had a lot of strife, pain, heartache, and negativity in my life, and I know it's not over. All I've done is increased my threshold for said pain, which, to the very core of me, I believe enables me to feel the same depth of joy, bliss, and eternal happiness someday. This thought process has become a part of me. Nothing you can do will convince me otherwise.

I welcome pain. I know that I'm stronger to face it than I was yesterday, last year, and definitely about a billion times stronger than I was to face it back in 2003... I also know who I am, who I can become, and I'm not about to settle for less again. And please feel free to give me your two cents if you feel I'm not living up to that potential. The reason I am this woman today is because of those of you I've chosen to have in my life. Many of you were crucial to my growth and development in 2007 when I was on my own again, or in 2008 when I moved to Nashville, or this past summer when I decided to move to California to be 100% on my own. The amazing thing about my life so far, is that I get to take my support system with me. I love that! I may not talk to all of you as often as we used to, but we keep in touch, love, and support each other just the same, and that has made all the difference in the world to me.

Thank you for your examples, friendship, and love. I value them more than you know.

If you'd like to join me in the fight for Planned Parenthood, please do. Here's a link where you can do just that and help spread the word.

It almost pains me to post this, but it's true. The Doctors at PP have always been incredible. Breast exams included.

Join me.