It’s that time again when those of us who use birth control are being told we should be denied access to this basic daily dose of medication and safety. As many of you already know, earlier this month 45 decided that employers should be able to deny contraceptive coverage in their employees’ insurance if it goes against their beliefs. I know I know, we’re still fighting even in 2017. Millions of people use birth control for several reasons, and all of these reasons are good enough reasons. Unfortunately, I have been seeing a lot of folks focusing on the “good girl” reasons to use birth control, and I’m not here for it.
Let’s get one thing straight: people are going to have sex. People are going to have sex even if they don’t want to get pregnant. So people are going to have sex and use contraceptives so they don’t get pregnant. This is perfectly fine. While acne, PCOS, regulation, and many other things are good and valid reasons to use birth control, too many people have used those reasons alone to justify birth control use. Things like “it’s not like I’m using it so I can sleep around, I actually need it” which is so not okay. Using birth control as birth control is healthy and normal. Resorting to slut-shaming in the fight for access to birth control is not okay in the slightest. Fighting for these rights must be inclusive. We cannot win this if we put others down when we’re all trying to achieve the same outcome.
Access to birth control for all reasons should be granted. Safe sex is something that everyone should have the right to no matter the religious beliefs of an employer. Birth control should be given to those who need it, for whatever reason. I do suppose if it isn’t covered by an employee’s insurance, they could just pay for it, but some people just can’t. People who can’t afford it should still be given access to it. As I said, people are still going to have sex, even if they can’t afford birth control.
Birth control should be a right. It isn’t right to deny a person medication for any reason. If that person is prescribed medication, they should be able to obtain it. If you use birth control for any reason, there are tons of people standing with you to make sure you have access to it. Let’s just remember to not put people down for using it for its intended purpose: contraception.
Image from time.com
