Sally

My name is Sally. I’m 56 and live in Colorado. In 1981, I already had my 2 children, and we didn’t plan on having anymore. Birth control pills weren’t a good option for me because I had epilepsy. My ob/gyn and neurologist both said if I was to have any more pregnancies they couldn’t let me have any anti-seizure meds. The only way to take care of this was a tubal ligation, which was acceptable to both my husband and me.

“My doctors had to convince the insurance company that it was necessary.”

This is the part that is bad. My husband worked for GM, and we had great insurance, Michigan Blue Cross and Blue Shield. My doctors had to convince the insurance company that it was necessary. The time it took for me to be approved was 5 months, after 2 hearings. The insurance company only thought of cost. Had they not agreed, I probably wouldn’t be here today. Our reproductive rights should not be at the discretion of anybody else.