Dear Planned Parenthood,

You've had my back consistently for the past eight years. I am 25 years old and the first time I turned to you, I was 17. I grew up in a very quintessential conservative town, sitting on the outskirts of Seattle and Tacoma. I still have no idea where the women's clinic is in town; they don't tell you those things in your high school sex education class. The closest Planned Parenthoods to the house that I grew up in are 30 miles in either direction.

Our health teachers naively told us to talk to our parents if we needed to see a doctor about our reproductive health. For some reason, preaching that our parents would obviously support every single belief that you have because you are related to them. Duh. I didn't have the tools to take responsibility for my own health. I had to go looking for that kind of information; I had to track down the knowledge that the public school system was and is still omitting from sex education curriculum requirements.

The first time I went to Planned Parenthood, I knew I was in an abusive relationship and I needed help.

During my undergraduate studies, I wrote a paper pointing out the disservice public schools are doing to their students by not including lessons on gender and power dynamics and inclusive sex education. Without lessons of gender and power dynamics, there runs a risk of abuse in young relationships. I was raised in a bubble, expected to be heteronormative and submissive by "nature." In retrospect, the extent to which I dealt with and submitted to such abuse is so complex, but so obvious. Complex because there were so many dimensions to which I validated what was happening, and yet, obvious because the whole time I knew something was wrong.

There was absolutely no way I was going to talk to my parents about my reproductive health or my relationships. My parents attempted to raise me as a Catholic, and, like the young Princess Leia that I am, I rebelled and resisted. My dad slut-shamed me when I made the high school cheerleading squad and then again when I got a college cheerleading scholarship. I bet you can only imagine the dysfunctional way my father decided to speak to me, and then the equally dysfunctional way in which I responded.

In my home town, Planned Parenthood was what you would whisper to your friend and teammate when she was crying to you in the bathroom. In my hometown, us girls stuck together, coordinating carpools to pick up our birth control methods from the nearest Planned Parenthood. In my hometown, Planned Parenthood was where you went when there were no grown-ups to help you.

When I moved out of state for college, I had to rely on my parents to ship my birth control, that they didn't want me to be on, to me every month. Every single month, my prescription would show up late. Every single month, my hormones were messed with and poked at. It also didn't help that my religious-affiliated family doctor wanted to "try a number of things" with my birth control even though I was living 1,600 miles away. I didn't trust my doctor. I felt like I was insane going between different types of pill methods and constantly being behind on my monthly prescription.

It didn't take long for me to make an appointment at the nearest Planned Parenthood. Three hours drive, round trip, and the only way for me to take control of my reproductive health. Three hours, round trip, and I was able to get three months of birth control that a healthcare provider prescribed for me with my health in mind first, not my religious affiliations. That meant three months that I would be on time with my medication. That meant three months to make the plans to make the same trip to get my next set of birth control. Planned Parenthood gave me the control over my own health that I was seeking. I received compassionate and judgement-free care.

Without Planned Parenthood, I would've never gotten help for my eating disorder. They gave me the resources to move forward with my life like they had time and time again. When I finally felt overwhelmed by what I had done, I didn't and couldn't trust any healthcare provider besides Planned Parenthood.

Looking at me, you wouldn't have guessed that I was starving myself and completely torn apart inside. I looked lean and muscular – only because I spent more hours at the gym than I would sleep. The care provider at Planned Parenthood was tipped off immediately when I said I didn't have a period, and haven't had one since I quit the college cheer squad I was on seven months before that. She asked me if my partner was supportive of my reproductive decisions, and for the first time, I vocalized that I needed help. I was met with compassion and knowledge, and I finally opened my eyes to how I could regain control of my life.

My overall health comes first for Planned Parenthood. Attacks against Planned Parenthood are attacks against my health and the health of thousands of women, men and young people who also rely access to Planned Parenthood for preventative services like cancer screenings, birth control, STI screenings and treatment, and in my case, Well Women's Exams. The health of our community is what we stand to lose if these attacks continue.

I started volunteering with Planned Parenthood a handful of days after that appointment, and my life has completely changed since then. I owe Planned Parenthood so much! I owe them my health and my happiness! Millions of people around the country are taking action and are fighting back against attempts to deny healthcare to Planned Parenthood patients. I am proud to be one of them!

With the State of Iowa voting to defund Planned Parenthood, it hits close to my heart. Four health centers are closing, devastating communities all across the state. It is disgusting that the state legislature would put that many lives at risk. Lawmakers in Iowa are stripping their citizens the right to compassionate, caring and inclusive healthcare.

If it weren't for the health care I received and the community I found amongst volunteers, I would've never learned that I want to run for office; I would've never learned that I can truly make a difference in this world. Most importantly, if it weren't for Planned Parenthood, I would've never learned how to love myself, again.