Planned Parenthood won't be bullied by extremists in Indiana
I grew up in a large, very conservative family in small farm communities in Kansas and Nebraska where girls were not provided much, if any, information about sex or their own bodies. I just knew I didn't want to get pregnant and end up trapped in a bad situation.
As a nervous 16-year-old, I walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic where I met Dixie, the kindest, most compassionate nurse practitioner. She made me feel protected and safe. She answered all of my questions, prescribed me birth control, provided education and information on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections. She taught me how to make informed decisions to control my own destiny. In the years that followed, Ialways knew Dixie and Planned Parenthood would be there if I needed them.
When radical extremists on the Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion care last year, they plunged our nation into a health care crisis. Until this week, Indiana was a pivotal state for preserving abortion access for people in the region. Planned Parenthood Indiana's appointments were booked out for the last month. According to state data, the number of Indiana abortions rose by 1,115 to 9,529 during 2022, and the trend continued this year, with about 90% of those being out-of-state patients coming from Kentucky
But now extremists are taking away abortion care in Indiana, just like they did one year ago in Kentucky.
Aug. 1, 2023, is a dark day for Hoosiers who rely on Indiana Planned Parenthood for abortion care. But Planned Parenthood didn't let them bully us in Kentucky, and we won't let them bully us here in Indiana. Our health centers in Kentucky are still providing essential reproductive, sexual and gender affirming health care to tens of thousands of people. Planned Parenthood of Kentucky is helping folks access abortion care in nearby states where it is still available and protected. Our commitment to Indiana is no different.
Abortion bans are discriminatory. They prevent access to reproductive health care for people of color and those working to make ends meet. Indiana's abortion restrictions target Hoosiers of color, Indigenous communities and those already marginalized by our health care system because of our country's history of racism and racial inequity. More pregnant people are dying in Indiana, according to a recent analysis, with Black Hoosiers twice as likely to die from pregnancy-associated deaths than white Hoosiers. Experts predict pregnancy-related deaths to increase even more as a result of an abortion ban in Indiana.
Whether you're white, Black, brown, or Indigenous — whether you're straight, gay, or trans — whether you have health insurance or you're uninsured — Planned Parenthood will never back down, not now, not ever, from providing essential reproductive, sexual and gender affirming care. We will be courageous in the courts, and in our clinics.
Planned Parenthood will not be silenced. Our Indiana care centers will continue to provide non-abortion essential health care, including: emergency contraception, birth control and vasectomies, pre- and post-abortion care, STI testing and treatment, pregnancy consultations and ultrasounds, cancer screenings, gender affirming hormone care for people over 18, wellness visits, and much more. Our patient navigator team will guide patients through the process of getting abortion care out of state, connecting with abortion funds and providing follow up care when they get back home.
No matter what extremists try to do in the political arena and courtrooms of Indiana, Planned Parenthood won't back down in our fight to reinstate Planned Parenthood as a trusted provider of abortions in Indiana.
Until then, we have the backs of our providers — reassuring professionals like Dixie — who continue to deliver compassionate, essential care to patients, even in the face of attacks from anti-abortion extremists.
Our patients are our north star. The people we provide care for are the people that we keep in our heads with every decision we make. Every Hoosier, in every circumstance, deserves access to live saving, medically accurate information and health care when and where they need it.