I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts. Thank you for trusting me in this fight to ensure all patients can safely and easily access sexual and reproductive health care in our communities.
We had difficulty starting our family and it was Planned Parenthood that provided me with the medical resources I needed to preserve my fertility. I know many across Massachusetts and the country share my story, which is why as your Representative, I will work tirelessly to dismantle all barriers to care.
As your Representative, I will work to pass the Out of Hospital Birth Access and Safety Act and Licensed Midwives, Paid Pregnancy Leave, An Act Ensuring Access to Full Spectrum Pregnancy Care, the I AM Bill, the Healthy Youth Act, and oppose any burdensome regulations on healthcare professionals and patients that prevent access to the full spectrum of medically accurate treatments and information, and oppose government support of crisis pregnancy centers.
We can only make well-informed decisions for ourselves when we have all the facts and resources to do so, and the government as well as private insurance companies should have no restrictions when it comes to what is medically necessary for a pregnant person. We must ensure that schools and healthcare facilities provide medically accurate and inclusive information regarding sexual health, pregnancy, and birth control. We must trust doctors, patients, and medical professionals who, time and time again, support the availability of expansive reproductive healthcare resources. Throughout this work, I will prioritize partnering with organizations across the district to uplift community leaders and youth organizers who are committed to making resources more accessible for everyone and providing the tools necessary to become strong advocates for causes that impact Medford and Malden.
I would not be a mother today without Planned Parenthood. When I entered puberty, I suffered from intense and painful menstrual cycles. When I turned to my doctors for help, I was always belittled and never listened to. This eventually led to a crisis when I was 16 where I suffered for over a week in extreme pain with the doctors telling my parents that I was faking because they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I was finally admitted to the hospital for exploratory surgery because I couldn’t take the pain anymore.
Even then, I was ridiculed by staff and treated with a dismissive air. It turned out I had a hemorrhagic ovarian cyst that had ruptured and had caused significant internal damage. I almost lost my ovary and had my appendix removed due to infection. Upon further investigation, I was finally diagnosed with endometriosis and PCOS. Even with these diagnoses I was still dismissed and went on to be uninsurable when I entered adulthood because these conditions were considered high-risk.
Planned Parenthood provided the vital reproductive care that I needed when I didn’t have health insurance. They were also the first ones to actually listen to me and treat me appropriately. Without this care, I would not have been able to preserve what little fertility I had and become the mother of three I am today. I also saw firsthand the lifesaving reproductive care my friends received when they had a life-threatening pregnancy despite being on birth control. Planned Parenthood has helped countless women and girls through the most difficult times of their lives.
It's time to have a real advocate for women in the 35th Middlesex.
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