If you haven't heard, the Health and Human Services Department has broadened the scope of employers and insurers who are exempt from covering birth control on religious or moral grounds. Yes, freedom of religion is just as important as any other freedom, but birth control is a secular issue.
Birth control is used for more than protection from pregnancy. It is used to treat certain medical conditions such as Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. It is also used to regulate periods, and it can reduce your risk of cancer. Is it right to deny coverage of birth control based on only one of its uses?
Another issue with the new rule is the denial of coverage on moral grounds. It is not illegal to take birth control. It is not inherently wrong to take birth control. Thus, why can someone else's moral beliefs interfere with your access to birth control? Why can the insurers or employers say, "I don't agree with premarital sex, so I'm limiting your ability to do it safely"? It is an infringement on the employees freedom to block their access to a medication that the employer disagrees with. Because the medication does not cause the user harm, it should be up to the individual user if taking the medication is moral or not.
One of the big arguments against birth control is that it promotes premarital sex. It does not. It makes premarital sex safer while also assisting other medical issues. Even if it did promote premarital sex, it is not the employer or insurer's job to pass judgement on those decisions, especially since those decisions are not particularly harmful if done safely.
Furthermore, just because an employer or insurer covers birth control, it does not mean they have to encourage its use. Birth control is just one of many things included in health care. So, why is it the one being labeled controversial? Why is it the one being fought over? Birth control is a medical issue just like diabetes or cancer.
Lack of access to birth control will not stop people from having sex. It will lead them to do it less safely. We can't pretend that premarital sex does not happen. And what about the married couples who want to engage in sexual activity without fear of becoming pregnant? Why are they losing their birth control coverage?
Birth control is about more than not getting pregnant. It is about women's reproductive rights. The nature of having and birthing kids leaves a lot of the responsibility on women, so why are we limiting women's control over the process? Let women have control over their own bodies.
