Now more than ever, birth control has become a very big argument in the government and, you guessed it, on social media. Women everywhere are talking about other reasons they use birth control other than for sex. Some of them were put on birth control at ages as young as 11 for severe medical reasons. One of the most common reasons is that women need to take birth control to regulate their periods. Without birth control, women can have very irregular periods and in many cases, women will have severe cramps. These women can have cramps so bad that they can't move, which can affect their everyday life which could include going to work, school, etc.
More severely, birth control can help endometriosis. Endometriosis is a painful condition where tissue that normally grows inside your uterus, and sheds during your period, also grows outside of it. This excess tissue can cause swelling, inflammation, and scarring that can lead to extreme pain. Women who have this can use the pill to decrease the pain during the menstrual cycle every month.
Another thing birth control can do is help polycystic ovary syndrome. During the menstrual cycle, a woman's body releases at least one egg, but with this disease, all of the eggs stay in the ovaries, which can lead to infertility. The root of this issue is hormone imbalances and birth control helps regulate this. As you can see, women need this for more than just to prevent having babies. There are many women and men standing up for birth control using the hashtag #handsoffmyBC.
But not only are women angry because others aren't understanding how many medical issues are corrected by taking birth control, women are angry because:
Why is it a problem if women take birth control for the sole purpose of not having kids?
Sex is normal. Why should any woman feel bad or not have access to birth control just because of what they're using it for? If a woman just wants birth control to prevent pregnancies, that's between her and her doctor. Another thing women are angry about is the fact that their choice for abortion is already in danger, why should birth control be taken away to? The people who are against abortion and the killing of fetuses and also don't believe in birth control don't want to help women. And today, children's healthcare is being taken away, too.
So if women don't have access to birth control to prevent pregnancy, and they don't have access to abortion to get rid of a child they can't give the best life and they don't have healthcare for the child after it's born, there's a problem.
These arguments are about control. Women want rights to their bodies and they want access to things that help undesired situations not happen to their body. Birth control is important to women in many ways; so what if women just want to prevent pregnancy? Birth control is a healthcare right, not a privilege and women are angry about this right being endangered.
