Planned Parenthood to Offer Birth Control and Counseling Online

Birth control for everyone! Planned Parenthood services are available online if you live in Minnesota and Washington state and need medication and, soon, counseling for sexually transmitted diseases. They’re basically a nurse in your purse.

According to the Star Tribune, PP launched the digital service last week from their home bases in both states and users can even access a secure video portal. The service hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day in Minnesota and Monday through Friday in Washington. The two offices also service North Dakota and South Dakota, Alaska and Idaho, but they can’t offer online services in those states because of legal restrictions or the general ‘Who cares about women’s health when you have a penis!’ opinion.

“Our patients are between the ages of roughly 18 and 29, so they are millennials, and they are used to being on [the] cutting edge of technology adaptation,” said Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

“Planned Parenthood is not their mother’s Planned Parenthood,” she said. “We have really evolved.”

Crafted to also reach women in rural areas, all clients will need is an internet connection and they’ll be able to order their birth control for mailing and talk with a health professional, which includes STD consultations starting in October.

Also, Planned Parenthood says they are focusing on the rise of chlamydia and gonorrhea but chlamydia specifically in Minnesota. They’re encouraging folks younger than 25 to get tested. The cases of chlamydia specifically has risen from 115 ill in every 100,000 people in 1996 to 353 per 100,000 in 2013 according to the Minnesota Department of Health.