With all this talk of health care reform, rising costs on everything and unemployment rates as high as they are I think more people need to take health care into their own hands. You can't just sit back and hope that things change. There are plenty of wonderful places like Planned Parenthood where people can receive so many health care services for a low cost (or even free at certain locations) without health insurance.

And they even accept a lot of health insurance plans too.

Women are skipping out on their yearly Pap test and breast exam because they lost their jobs and health insurance, and that is not OK. Cervical cancer kills, but it is so easily preventable and treatable with yearly pap tests.

You can get discounted birth control too. So many people are in bad financial situations right now. An unplanned pregnancy is the last thing you want at a time like that. If you want to wait until you are back on your feet to expand your family, you can do that and Planned Parenthood can help. They can even do STD testing to make sure you are as healthy as possible.

Women, you should not have to put your health on hold due to an economy in crisis. Take your health into your own hands.

Ashleigh Krauss

Hoffman Estates