When Britney Spears' younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, announced to the world that she was 16 and pregnant, the backlash was horrible. People accused her of glorifying teen pregnancy and of trying to get attention. The reality is she was going through something many Latinas have faced. She was young and scared and didn't know how to ask someone for birth control.
In a new interview with Glamour, the former Zoey 101 stars admits it was fear that kept her from getting birth control. And that is exactly how Planned Parenthood could have helped her.
I believe in safety and birth control as prevention. But like many young girls…I was really scared to go to the doctor. And I was on a Nickelodeon show, and it [felt] especially embarrassing to ask someone to put me on birth control.
Sound familiar? Fear of the doctor? Afraid someone will recognize you and tell people you are having sex? Even her fame, wealth and health insurance couldn't afford her protection from her own insecurities and shame. But a trip to Planned Parenthood could have.
While it is completely insane to me that Planned Parenthood (a place women go for many things related to their health including, in some states, flu shots) would be defunded by any organization working to end breast cancer, what is worse is that the reason is all about abortion, which is least of what Planned Parenthood does.
Just last month, a truly frightening study was released that explained that a third of girls who got pregnant didn't use birth control because they didn't even know they could get pregnant. If even Jamie Lynn is afraid to ask her doctor about birth control, imagine what happens when you are young, your parents are new to this country, very religious and you don't even have a doctor to ask. The only resource you have is a place like Planned Parenthood–an organization that makes sure to have information available in Spanish–something your doctor probably doesn't do. Plus, it is anonymous and there is no judgement–no lady from the church going to tell your mami what you are doing, no scary doctor speaking to you in a language you don't understand.
I did a quick poll of the Latinas I work with and we have all had some interaction with Planned Parenthood–and none of us to have abortions, just sayin'.
Have you ever used Planned Parenthood?
Image via Monado/Flickr
