By Audra Coffman, Halima Fasasi and Alyssa Herzog
Sexually transmitted infections are no dinner-table topic, but statistically speaking, you probably know many people who have them.
There are 110 million STIs in the U.S., both existing and new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty million new infections occur each year, about half affecting young people between 15 and 24.
This means a quarter of the nearly 43 million young people in this age group, which includes many who are not sexually active, can be expected to contract an STI each year.
In spite of the widespread reach of STIs, the stigma remains.
One Texas Tech student, who requested anonymity, said she got chlamydia from a guy she was dating. We will refer to her by a pseudonym, Jenny.
Chlamydia is the most commonly reported STI in the U.S., according to the CDC. Texas ranks 13th among the 50 states in chlamydia infections.
“I just thought that me saying ‘I’m clean. Are you clean?’ But yeah, that was stupid,” Jenny said. “You just can’t trust people.”
The number of reported chlamydia cases in Lubbock continues to climb, with 1,980 cases in 2014—up from 1,744 in 2013 and 1,692 in 2012, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Linda Brice, who co-founded Lubbock “Teen Straight Talk” in 2007 but is now clinical associate professor at the University of Memphis, said many college- and high-school-aged young women lost healthcare options with the closure of Planned Parenthood clinics.
“And when that option goes away, so does the option for all these individuals, which puts everybody at jeopardy,” Brice said.
Listen to Brice discuss the lack of affordable women’s care:
More than 90,000 women per year have reported chlamydia in the state of Texas. If left untreated, the infection is known to lead to an increased risk of infertility.
Texas Tech has long battled a negative reputation in regard to STIs. For example, an Urban Dictionary entry from 2006 defines “Raider Rash” as a slang term for sexually transmitted diseases at Tech.
Students have argued the term is offensive, inaccurate and unfair; yet, it continues to be used, judging by the hashtag #RaiderRash. Searching for “Lubbock” and “STD” on Twitter returns dozens of profane or at the very least mean-spirited statements, such as this one.
Jenny said she never really cared about condoms, so she and her partner had unprotected sex. A lot.
When she started noticing abnormal discharge, she decided to go to an urgent care center.
“It was really scary,” she said. “Because thank God it wasn’t herpes. So I had to tell him. I was like, ‘Hey, I’m pregnant…just kidding. I have chlamydia.’”
After three weeks and a new sexual partner, she said she continued to have symptoms.
This time, Jenny went to a gynecologist and got a second round of treatment. She learned the chlamydia did not go away because she drank alcohol while taking the medicine she had been prescribed the first time.
So many people are having casual sex, she said, despite knowing the risk—which is why it is important to get tested frequently.
“You’re having sex with everyone they’re having sex with,” Jenny said. “One of my friends wakes up in random guys’ houses. She blacks out a lot. I don’t think she’s ever been tested, either.”
Planned Parenthood was Lubbock’s largest provider of women’s health services, serving 1,172 women in 2012 and more than 2,000 in 2011, according to Texas Health and Human Services Commission data
Lubbock’s Planned Parenthood closed last year.
The nearest one is hundreds of miles away. 
“I think it’s ridiculous that Planned Parenthood closed,” Jenny said. “Luckily, I could go tell my mom what was going on and use her credit card and pay $200 to go to urgent care. But there’s not a lot of people who are that open with their mom and not everyone has that kind of money. So what are they supposed to do? They’re not as lucky as I am.”
The controversial women’s healthcare clinic closed as a result of Texas Senate Bill 5, which put restrictions on clinics providing abortions—including the one in Lubbock. Other clinics have now taken up the slack left behind when Planned Parenthood closed its doors.
However, many places do not take Medicaid, Brice said, leaving many teens and women with no options..
“The whole purpose of the stupid law was to make women’s healthcare safer,” Jenny said. “I don’t think that law has helped a single person.”
See this interactive map to find out which Lubbock clinics provide STD testing.
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