I am 21 and on birth control.

PAUSE.

I know many readers are already reaching for the tiny "x" on their browser, but please give me the benefit of the doubt.

I don't get personal often, well, with really anyone, so here we go.

I, a Jesus-following, abstinent, engaged woman, have been on birth control since I was thirteen years old. For the longest time, I felt ashamed, like I had done something wrong, like the rest of the world would stone me to death if they knew the truth.

For myself, for every woman out there taking birth control for medical reasons, I have to shed the cloak of shame. I have to stop pretending that birth control makes me anything less than I was created. If we don't speak out for the rest of the ladies in the world relying on birth control to carry out their daily lives, we will lose that right completely.

That is why we must end the stigma surrounding birth control. A recent study showed that 14% of all U.S. women on "the pill" use it for SOLELY non-contraceptive reasons, a total of 1.5 million women nationwide. Yet, despite the slew of reasons that we use "the pill," we are still subjected to slut-shaming and the government interfering with our health.

I, like many other women, am getting really tired of being told by people with no knowledge of gynecology that I do not "need" my medication. We deserve to carry out our normal lives, free from the debilitating symptoms of PCOS, endometriosis, and dysmenorrhea, among other afflictions.

Stop shaming. Start educating.