Editor’s Note: Today’s post is from Leslie Levy, one of our fabulous Community Action Team volunteers.

When I was single, I spent the third decade of my life working for a traveling healthcare company. I would spend months at a time in different cities across the United States working as an Occupational Therapist. This was in the 1990s to be exact. I was always conscientious about Pap tests, and mammograms. And, as a traveler, I would often get caught out on assignment at a time when my annual physical exams were due.

What’s a woman to do in a case like this? Go to the local Planned Parenthood, of course. Go to their medical office where you can get wellness checks, along with meeting some fantastic people at the same time. I used Planned Parenthood for my annual wellness checks for 10 years. I was so grateful that there was a place where a young woman on her own could find healthcare.

A woman’s wellness checks are intimate and can often be embarrassing. You don’t want to talk about your reproductive choices, have your boobs fondled, and spread your legs for just any doctor you find in the yellow pages. And, as a woman, you can’t trust any doctor you find in the yellow pages. You need a doctor who is trained to give you all the information and care you are supposed to have.

Mind you, no Planned Parenthood office saw me for free. As a working woman, I was expected to pay for my visits. And, as a working woman, I felt I should use my money to take care of myself. I was looking for health care, not a hand out.

As the years went on, I met other women on the road. Women with the same needs as me. I sent many girlfriends to the local Planned Parenthood office in the city we were in. I would tell everyone about the care and services a woman can get. And get this, you didn’t have to be pregnant! As a matter of fact, all the women in my circle never used Planned Parenthood for anything other than wellness checks. We used Planned Parenthood to do just that: plan the future of our parenthood with accurate information.

You know, not everyone who goes to Planned Parenthood is a pregnant women looking for an abortion. Planned Parenthood is the face of every woman who cares about her heath, as a sexually active, child-bearing female. Planned Parenthood is the face of every woman who cares about her health, as well as the welfare of the penis that penetrates her vagina.

So, for those of you out there who think you have the right to withhold reproductive health care from women, think again. For those of you out there who don’t think women are capable of being responsible for making the decision to be a parent, think again. For those of you out there who see Planned Parenthood an an abortion mill, look again. You are looking at a picture of your own delusions. A fabrication of false beliefs.

For those of you out there, think about this: have the women in your life had a wellness check lately? Or, have they been denied access to responsible health care?

Make a difference in the lives of the women you know by supporting the work of Planned Parenthood.