Stand up for women's health care 

If Congress cuts funding to Planned Parenthood, millions of people will be left without access to birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, and other basic care. Many of them will have nowhere else to go for the health care they need.

I’m counting on U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) to do the right thing and stand up for the Planned Parenthood patients in our community and across the country who are counting on those health centers.

I stand with Planned Parenthood because 2.5 million patients a year come to Planned Parenthood for care, regardless of their zip code, income, sexual orientation, race, religion, gender, or country of origin. Shutting down Planned Parenthood would deny millions of patients access to its cancer screenings, birth control, HIV testing, and more. If patients are blocked from care at Planned Parenthood, many would have nowhere else to go for health care. This “defunding” scheme is nothing more than a blatantly political attempt to attack women’s health and rights, while taking health care away from the people who need it most. Every person has a fundamental right to affordable, quality health care.

-- Sarah Peterson - San Luis Obispo