This week, Republican leaders in Congress burst the bubble of relief millions of people felt in July when the Trumpcare bill failed.
As a Mainer, I was proud that Sen. Susan Collins not only listened to her constituents, but lived up to her promise to stand with 10,000 people in Maine who rely on Planned Parenthood for care.
I hope, with my whole heart, that she’ll do the same thing this time.
Because some Republican senators are hell-bent on destroying our health care system and putting the lives of millions at risk with a new bill, known as the Graham-Cassidy bill. This new bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act is, somehow, worse than all the previous versions. It would gut coverage for maternity care, likely drive up the number of uninsured and make it less affordable for those who will still have insurance, and slash federal Medicaid funding, which approximately 1 in 5 women of reproductive age rely on to access no-cost, critical reproductive health care such as birth control, life-saving cancer screenings and maternity care.
And, most concerning to me, as someone who relies on Planned Parenthood for reproductive health care, it would block patients with Medicaid from going to Planned Parenthood for care, which the American Medical Association said would “violate longstanding AMA policy on patients’ freedom to choose their providers and physicians’ freedom to practice in the setting of their choice.”
I traveled to Washington twice to oppose prior versions of the bill — first, to share my story with Sen. Collins, and then to speak to hundreds of people gathered on Capitol Hill. Now, with this new bill dangerously close to becoming our reality, I’m telling my story again.
I first went to Planned Parenthood in college when I didn’t have health insurance. They helped me figure out the form of birth control that worked best for me and helped me access contraception on a sliding scale payment. Now that I have health insurance through my job, I still use Planned Parenthood as my reproductive health care provider because of the unmatched openness, caring and quality of care.
Like millions of others, I don’t come to Planned Parenthood to make a political statement. I come to them for health care. But with these unprecedented attacks being waged by politicians in Washington, I knew I couldn’t stay on the sidelines.
I volunteer for Planned Parenthood in Portland because I care so deeply about this organization that provides care for thousand in Maine from all walks of life and in all situations — when they say care no matter what, they mean it.
I choose to volunteer with Planned Parenthood to help women whose stories are just like mine: They’ve turned to Planned Parenthood in a time of need and found the services that, in many cases, literally saved their lives. From cancer screenings to preventative care to STI testing, Planned Parenthood has helped millions of women lead healthy, successful lives. And now, President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress want to take that all away.
The worst part is how the sponsors of the new Trumpcare bill are trying to cram it through to a vote before the month is over, without debate or even an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. They’re counting on people like me being tired of fighting. They’re counting on us not paying attention. They’re counting on us going about our lives while they destroy our ability to get the care we need to live.
And we, in Maine, are counting on Collins to continue standing strong for us and standing with Planned Parenthood.
Jillian McLeod-Tardiff is a patient advocate for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in Maine and a volunteer for the Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund.