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Women’s Health Week (Cont.)
This chart from the National Women’s Law Center breaks down the precentage of women who get regula pap smears by state.
I feel like a pap smear is like a lot of medical things, everybody know that you need one often, but they get put off, and really, who wants an interaction with those duck lips anyway? But this statistic I felt was really of note:
6 out of 10 cervical cancer cases occur in women who have never been screened or who have not received a Pap test in the past five years
Which is pretty scary. And sometimes, I realize, people put it off for a reason. After all, if you don’t have insurance, they are really expensive. As in, generally, from what I know, a few hundred dollars. Just for the exam.
Now, not to sound like a PSA for Planned Parenthood (although really, would that be so bad?), but this is part of why the fight to keep Planned Parenthood funded is so important. It’s also important to get the word out that these services can be done at places like Planned Parenthood. It seems like the conservative right has often made PP out to be an evil abortion factory, and this is why it’s important to let people know that’s simply not true. They provide services women need.
So anyway. If you are put it off, schedule your yearly exam now. This week. In honor of National Women’s Health Week.
Any other suggestions/tips/stories you’d like to share?
