Birth control should be provided
free of charge and should be accessible to all women. For so long now health education
in school has been about teaching abstinence however what they should be
teaching is practicing safe sex. Part of practicing safe sex is protection and
that includes some form of birth control and condoms. Now women should be able
to afford birth control because it is something that will not only prevent
pregnancy but it also decreases the change of ovarian cancer, cysts, and
hormonal imbalances.
“Preventive
Medicine focuses on the health of individuals, communities, and defined
populations. Its goal is to protect, promote, and maintain health and
well-being and to prevent disease, disability, and death”. Most health
insurances will provide either free medication if it is considered a preventative
medication such as heart medications, blood pressure medications, and birth
control because it prevents pregnancy. It is crazy that some health insurances
still have a copay or some kind of charge for birth control when it is
something that helps prevent a woman from getting pregnant. My health insurance
company just got rid of the copay and now it is free of charge for me but there
are still woman out there who still have to pay for birth control and that’s just
not right. The thing is birth control is not only something that helps prevent
pregnancy but it also helps control the population and this should be something
that the government should be concerned about.
The
United States government needs to really take control on this issue. For too
long the government has allowed religion to play a huge role in this because
some religions believe that birth control is wrong and don’t believe women
should take it. There is supposed to be a separation between church and state
and the government needs to realize that they have the take a stand and it’s
time to draw the line. Another thing the government should think about is how
much cheaper it will be for the taxpayers to pay for birth control than to have
to help pay for children through SNAP or WIC. At the end of the day we are in
the twentieth century and the government needs to realize that and make some
changes.
1 comment:
Holy shnikes! I couldn't agree with you more. Birth control should be free. And not just the pill. The patch, condoms, diaphragms, and especially IUDs which are much much healthier since they either have no hormones involved, or only disperse hormones in a focused area, where they are needed, instead of into the blood stream, thus throughout the whole body, like the pill and patch, which science is starting to link to rises in breast cancer. But back to contraception being free. My fiancee and I have made the informed decision for her to be on the pill until we are financially ready to have kids. Since we do not have health insurance, this costs us $300 a year (as long as we pay for it bulk, if we pay monthly its about $750). It would be more if she had to be any of the specialty types of the pill like low estrogen. This is not a terrible financial burden, yet it is money that could go towards better things. At earlier parts in my life, I could not have afforded this. Many pharmacies now offer free or very cheap antibiotics, so why can't we do this with birth control? The only birth control methods I believe should require payment are abortion and hormone treatments due to the resources and procedures involved.
As the son of an OB-GYN, I was taught about sex, birth control, and STDs from an early age. I believe that this is why I have not ended up in the misguided and compromised life situations of many friends that have had to face unplanned pregnancy or contraction of an STD. I believe that teaching abstinence and fear tactics towards STDs is doing our youth a disservice. It blows my mind how many women are misinformed about birth control, and don't know simple stuff like that if they take an antibiotic and their birth control pill together, it can actually increase their chances of conception. The misinformation that people believe about conception, development of an embryo and then use to back up pro-life claims is ridiculous.
America needs real sex education, free birth control, and to take the religion out of politics on this issue. People need choices to control their lives, and to plan for the future. We need the ability put a damper on the growing population that is overwhelm our welfare programs, before we are forced to take measure like China. Quality of life needs to be our main focus.
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