Traci Phillips: Hi, I'm Tracy Phillips from Charleston, West Virginia. I'm a wife and a mother and an entrepreneur. I have two beautiful children that were both born here in West Virginia. During my 20s, I had uterine fibroids. I had wonderful care when I underwent a myomectomy to remove the uterine fibroids, right before I got married and it was a blessing because I was able to have a baby safe and securely. So I wanna thank the doctors at Women and Children's, reproductive endocrinologist who identified the fibroids and actually performed the surgery and did a lot of follow-up with me afterwards to make sure that I was OK. At the time, I had PEI. Public employees health insurance. I was a state employee and was able to get the surgery, but I don't know what would have happened if I would have been under a different insurance. So I'm just very fortunate that I did have some insurance at the time when I really needed it here in West Virginia and I was able to get the services that I needed so that I could continue my life as a healthy individual. If I could tell our West Virginia lawmakers one thing. It would be to think about their mother, think about their daughter, think about their wife or their sister, think about how the laws affect their healthcare and not only just their healthcare, how it affects their mental and how it affects a family. Giving people the chance and the opportunity to have a family in itself. It's an honor and it's a privilege. And if it comes down to a lawmaker's decisions, please just think about those effects.
