So I needed a checkup of the ladybits recently, and being the broke, uninsured college student that I am, where did I turn? Yes, that haven of baby-murdering, Planned Parenthood, to partake of the reproductive health services that are NOT abortion and which comprise the VAST majority of their operations. So I called them up first, to see how much it would cost.
It turns out I, by virtue of being able to reproduce, am eligible for a California Health Access card. Now don't get me wrong, I am *all* in favor of making reproductive health care and family planning services available to all people, regardless of financial status. But I have to say, the questions I was asked to determine eligibility made it quite plain what the state cares about, and it's not me as a person. It's me as a walking uterus, a potential incubator. I was asked, firstly, if I was still getting a monthly period (which I'm not, but it's by virtue of having an IUD rather than by virtue of menopause, which I was told is what they need to know when I asked for clarification) and secondly if I'd had my tubes tied. When I answered "eh, sorta?" and "no", I was told that because I was uninsured and capable of getting pregnant, I qualified for this card that means the state pays for 80% and PP eats the other 20%.
And what did I get, with my state-funding card? A pap smear and basic well-woman exam. Forgive me my ignorance, but don't women who've had their tubes tied still need those services? Don't post-menopausal women need these things? So why am I covered, when they wouldn't be? Because the state's interest is not in taking care of its female citizens, it's in taking care of the hypothetical occupants of those citizen's uteri.
So while I appreciate the state's help in getting me this health care, I very much do *not* appreciate that it has a prerequisite of my avowedly-never-to-be-used fertility. Because that, apparently, is more important than my needs as a person.
