Actress Mae Whitman: Planned Parenthood Can Be Your Parent When You Want to Talk About Sex

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Actress Mae Whitman sat down with her mother to discuss all things sex in the latest edition of a video series presented by women’s lifestyle outlet Refinery29 and Planned Parenthood. She encourages girls to speak with staff at the controversial abortion provider if they can’t talk about sex with their own parents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21UEKbTtx-g

“Being a teenager and talking to your parents about sex can be extremely helpful and beneficial, and sort of amusing and silly and fun,” Whitman says at the beginning of the video. “Here to hopefully illustrate that point, I have brought my mother, and we are going to talk about S-E-X.”

The Arrested Development and Parenthood star listened intently as her mother, Pat Musick, described the first time her own mother sat her down to talk about menstruation and sanitary pads. Whitman also recounted how she called her mother immediately after she lost her virginity, adding that it is important to speak with adults about their experiences to better understand sexual relationships.

“It doesn’t always have to be your parent that you can talk to about this stuff,” Whitman told her mother.

“And, once again, that’s where Planned Parenthood comes in,” Musick explained to her daughter. “Because if, for some reason, you don’t have the kind of parents that you’re able to go to, you can go to Planned Parenthood, you can sit down and have a conversation about anything with anyone there. That’s what they’re there for.”

Whitman recalled her own personal experience utilizing Planned Parenthood in the accompanying interview with Refinery29.

“There was a time where I had a pregnancy scare and I was out of town, and I went to Planned Parenthood just to ask questions without being judged. It felt like having parents there,” the actress said. “I will do whatever it takes to keep those lines of communication [that Planned Parenthood provides] open [for other people].”

Planned Parenthood has come under a firestorm of criticism after a series of investigative videos released by the Center for Medical Progress exposed the organization’s apparent practices of selling body parts of aborted babies — as well as altering the position of babies during the abortion procedure in order to harvest intact organs — to medical research firms for profit. The revelations sparked protests  at Planned Parenthood facilities nationwide and calls to end federal funding for the organization, which reportedly performs more than 300,000 abortions per year.

With her video in support of Planned Parenthood, Whitman joins other Hollywood celebrities who have publicly voiced their support for the organization, including Scarlett Johansson, Lena Dunham and Whoopi Goldberg. Shortly before the 2012 presidential election, celebrities including Julianne Moore, Mary J. Blige and Q-Tip partnered with Planned Parenthood to release a video in support of President Obama’s campaign.

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