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State funding for family planning services in Maine has not been replenished for 10 years. That’s why we need to pass and fund LD 143, to provide $6.1 million to sustain the sixty health care delivery sites spread across Maine, and possibly expand that number to serve more patients.
For it is often the young people in our state, navigating new relationships, needing counseling, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, cancer screening, etc., for whom family planning clinics are a god send. A health care clinic where they are welcomed, regardless of their ability to pay, should be available in every corner of Maine.
I was in my early 20s when I needed such care, and the local Planned Parenthood was such a blessing for me! I was suffering from an infection caused by an intrauterine device that my body rejected. It was causing me chronic pain and I was scared. Thankfully, I found a wonderful doctor at a Planned Parenthood clinic who explained to me what was going on, removed the IUD, provided antibiotics, and counseled me about alternative methods of birth control.
My fear turned into enormous relief, and the experience gave me confidence to take responsibility for my health care going forward. I want this positive experience available for every young person in Maine.
Let’s affirm our collective commitment to the education and well-being of all our kids, and pass LD 143!
Diane Oltarzewski
Belfast
