I grew up in Fairfield, in a time before the internet made information as accessible as it is today. When I was 18 and a senior in high school, I had a serious boyfriend. And one day, my dad — who raised me — asked me point blank what I was doing to make sure I would not get pregnant. I have to give him credit for being brave enough to ask that question, and for not getting mad when I said, “Erm, nothing?” That could not have been easy for him.

That conversation led me to Maine Family Planning in Waterville. When I arrived for my appointment, they asked if I had insurance. I remember feeling a little horrified because I didn’t. The person behind the desk reassured me and told me to just pay what I could. I handed her $20, filled out some paperwork, and waited.

After my appointment, I left with a pack of birth control pills — and a biopsy. During my exam, my amazing nurse, who I still remember to this day, identified a very concerning mole. I always hated it, but aside from that I never gave it much thought.

A few weeks later, I got a call to come back for a follow-up. There, I met a specialist because my biopsy had come back showing severe atypia — the stage right before melanoma. That doctor, who wasn’t just a skin cancer specialist but also a volunteer on rotation at the clinic, removed the mole completely — and very likely saved my life.

That mole would have undoubtedly turned into skin cancer, going unnoticed by the eyes of an 18-year-old and subsequently untreated. Without Maine Family Planning, I likely wouldn’t have seen a doctor at all that year — for anything. Not for birth control, not for the routine exam where the nurse first spotted the suspicious mole, and certainly not for the specialist who removed it.

This experience showed me firsthand that these clinics do far more than provide contraception. They serve as critical access points for a wide range of health care needs. Beyond contraception and STI care, they provide essential services like cancer screenings, routine exams, and even life-saving interventions — just as they did for me. Ensuring stable funding for these clinics means continuing to provide Mainers with accessible, judgment-free health care when they need it most.

For the next 10 years, those family planning providers were my primary care providers. They were the first place I turned for medical care, and it was a long time before I saw caregivers again who were as supportive, attentive and thorough as they were — who listened, cared for me and looked out for me the way they did.

Maine’s family planning care network is a fundamental and life-saving part of our public health infrastructure. I know that from my own personal experience, as well as from stories my constituents have shared with me. Family planning care is medical care. It’s offered without judgment and regardless of anyone’s ability to pay. I was lucky — lucky my dad was a good parent who had a tough but important conversation, and lucky that Maine Family Planning was there when I needed it.

In the Legislature, many of my colleagues have made it clear that Maine is committed to ensuring people can access the health care they need when they need it. Right now, we have an opportunity— and a responsibility — to adequately fund our state’s essential family planning care infrastructure.

LD 143 would provide sustainable funding so Mainers can continue to access the same high-quality — and potentially life-saving — care that I did, regardless of ability to pay. Now is the time to step up and pass this critical measure to ensure that every Mainer has access to life-saving care — just like I did.