Birth Control Access in America

Since the early 18th Century, an perhaps earlier than that, women have known that the ability to plan if and when you get pregnant is vital to having control and ownership over your own life. Author of The Birth of the Pill, Jonathan Eig, states, "Women realized that if they want to stay engaged in the community, if they want to stay active, they have to have fewer children," That’s when you start to see women realizing that there is a tie between family size and political power. You can look at all of human history and see that for 99% of it, women were considered objects, like vessels for birthing and caring for children, Once you can control your own body, you can control your own life, and then you can assert yourself in your family, your community, in the workplace." Today, we know that of course birth control, primarily contraceptives and intrauterine devices (IUDs), are used for family planning and preventing pregnancy, but birth control is also used to treat endometriosis, acne, polycystic ovarian syndrome, mental health, and regulating menstrual cycles. It is a vital part of women's healthcare and should be accessible no matter your financial means. 

However,  earlier this month, the Trump administration rolled back one of the most groundbreaking pieces of the Affordable Care Act: the birth control mandate. The mandate simply required employers to include birth control coverage in their insurance plans. Thanks to this step backward we have now taken, 62 million American women will be affected by this change in legislation according to Planned Parenthood. So why does this administration and many other believe this is acceptable? It falls under what many on the right describe as "religious freedom," meaning that employers or companies that claim they have a religious objection to providing birth control will now be able to avoid covering it under their insurance plans. But there is a catch, there is no process to get this approved through Health and Human Services or any system. A company can decide to deny birth control coverage and show no proof or assertion of their religious or moral leanings. 

I whole-heartedly support freedom of religion, and I myself identify as Christian, however, I do not believe the government should restrict my, or any person's, personal decision making, especially when it comes to the decision of when or if to have a family. 

Beyond that, statistics show that access to birth control greatly reduces abortion rates, means more educational and career opportunities for women, and allows women to have control over their own bodies and lives. It is in our best interest as a nation, to support women and families and help to create equity for women.