Emily Lai took a deep breath.
“Hi. Um, OK. I’m going to start,” she said, sitting before the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners Tuesday during a briefing on women’s health.
“I’m here to talk about how reproductive health access has impacted my life,” she said, then paused and took a shaking breath in. “I care about sexual health access because I have herpes. Not just the oral kind, but the genital kind.”
It was the first time Lai had spoken publicly about a topic that people so often hide or ignore. But that’s why she felt compelled.
“I want to break the silence and shame around it,” she told commissioners. “Shame is a huge barrier. We’re taught that sexually transmitted infections are scary and shameful. But STIs are part of being human, which means that screens should also be part of being human too.”
Lai came to the United States from Taiwan 8 years ago to attend Reed College. She sought a full screening for sexually transmitted infections when she turned 24. Because she was uninsured, she had to pay $150, which amounted to 15 percent of her monthly salary.
“It was a huge financial burden,” she said. “But I wanted to be responsible with my body for me and for who I shared my body with.”
Lai spoke along with other members of the BRAVE initiative, through which advocates demand a voice in setting policy that impacts their bodies. And members tell personal stories to highlight the need for affordable access to reproductive care, with an emphasis on challenges facing women of color, immigrant women and people who identify as transgender.
Immigrant women and women of color are less likely than their white neighbors to access prenatal care, which contributes to a higher risk of health problems for their babies. In fact, research suggests that even a mother’s health before pregnancy affects her child’s health after birth.
Mariotta Gary-Smith, a co-founder of BRAVE and HIV prevention educator with the Multnomah County Health Department was lucky to have a mother who sat her down the summer she turned 16.
Her mother told her she had a right to control her own life and her body.
“Our relationship has been built on open and honest conversation, which is sometimes difficult when we’re talking about sexuality,” she said. But her mother’s support allowed Gary-Smith to live in a way that too few women know they can.
“I have the opportunity to lead a life built on the belief that I have a right to decide how my outcomes will look and how to make decisions about how I live and love,” she said.
Some young people don’t have that kind of relationship with their parents. Carina Guzmán said she couldn't have talked to her parents about sex. But as a high school student without documentation or health insurance, she didn’t know where to turn for birth control. A friend introduced her to Planned Parenthood, where she got a year’s supply for free.
Some people preferred to share their experiences privately, adding to a thick stack of stories given to commissioners.
Dr. Zeenia Junkeer told one of those, about a transgender person who went to a clinic seeking an abortion, but who “was coldly sent away.”
“I want comprehensive family planning available for all,” she told the commissioners. “Thank you for helping us preserve the basic principles of dignity, equality and freedom.”