Why I Became a Planned Parenthood Activist

by Elaine Hunt

I think most women remember the day after Donald Trump won the 2016 election. I was living in Spain at the time, having cast my vote for Hillary Clinton via absentee ballot weeks prior. The news felt like a punch in the gut — it gave a platform and validity to all the values that I, and so many people in my life, didn’t believe in. But it also kicked into motion something I’d felt for a long time: the need to get involved.

When I moved back to the United States a few months later, the Trump reality was overwhelming. Each day marked a new group or issue in the administration’s crosshairs, and reproductive health care — and Planned Parenthood in particular — was at the receiving end of many of these attacks.

I initially felt powerless to make a difference — I wasn’t able to make a major donation and I wasn’t involved in politics. But, at the same time, I am someone whose life has been greatly improved by access to birth control and safe reproductive health care, and that feeling of powerlessness evolved into looking for ways to help.

What has always drawn me to the Planned Parenthood mission is that it’s truly all-encompassing. Reproductive health care underscores so many aspects of our lives. When we have access to birth control and abortion, we can more successfully pursue education,our careers, and determine our own futures. When we feel empowered to make choices about our own bodies, that empowerment echoes into so many other areas of life. And we know for a fact that when women are empowered, everyone benefits.

And in a time when it feels like our president seeks to exclude and disenfranchise so many groups — immigrants, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community — Planned Parenthood is set on doing the opposite.

When I was growing up, access to birth control meant regulating my periods so I didn’t have to miss class because of cramps. Now, it means I can choose not to start a family I wouldn’t be ready for. I’ve been supremely lucky to have had legal, consistent access to birth control for as long as I’ve needed it, but that privilege doesn’t come without acknowledging the decades of activism that made this my reality.

And this privilege wouldn’t be possible without the advocacy of Planned Parenthood.

I heard about the PPNYC Activist Council from a coworker, and I applied to join shortly after. I’ve now completed the four trainings and joined the Political Action Group. So far, I’ve attended a few meetings and have been assisting in writing articles for the Action Fund Medium page. While I’m a new volunteer, I’m humbled to be able to contribute in a small way to an organization that has so directly impacted the freedom I have in my life today.

And as long as there is a threat on that freedom for any woman or person who needs reproductive health care, this fight will be worth fighting.

To learn more about the Planned Parenthood of New York City Activist Council, click here!