DJ Freddie Fagula holds a feminist icon sculpture in support of Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood has been in the news a lot lately, fighting for there very existence. But even when PP is “completely” funded, there scope is technically limited to the prevention of baby-making. Lots of women take advantage of their medical services, contraceptives and other resources. But not every woman needs the meds or paps because she has sex with men, and while plenty of us fudge the truth in order to get services local PP workers knew that this policy was unfair and wanted to do something about it. That’s why they created the Equal Access Fund.
The Equal Access Fund, established by PPCW, gives low-income lesbians, bisexual women and trans people the same access to affordable annual exams and Pap tests as low-income heterosexual women, and increases access to health care to an underserved population. The fund removes the requirement of seeking contraception to access no-cost annual exams.
I a recent survey in three Portland health centers, front-line staff members estimated that in a single month, six lesbians decided not to access services because they could not afford them and were not eligible for CCare. We estimate that annually 150-175 women in our service area decide not to access services because they cannot afford it.
We also suspect that man more low-income lesbian, bisexual and trans patients at PPCW request and take home contraception they don’t require because they need help from FPEP to pay for their services This subterfuge puts up additional barriers between patients and their health care providers, making an honest discussion about relationships, sexual behavior and risk factors even more difficult for women who may be already hesitant to speak freely.
Consistently facing financial woes, the completely donor funded EAF is holding a trivia night benefit tomorrow night at Crush (1400 SE Morrison). We got a chance to sit down with some of the organizers on the eve of their big fundraiser to ask a little bit more about the program.
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