Birth Control Accessibility

Words: 3249
Pages: 13

Birth Control Should Be Highly Accessible Birth control is a strategy commonly used by numerous biological women to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Additionally, birth control is used by many people who struggle with their menstrual cycles to manage menstrual symptoms. Because of this, birth control is a necessity for many biological women around the world. However, some barriers have been put in place to make birth control difficult or sometimes impossible to access. The obstacles to birth control accessibility prevent people from using contraceptives as a tool to avoid pregnancy and improve women's health. This leads to unwanted pregnancies and poor quality of life, which can cause a plethora of issues for many people, their children, and society …show more content…
Making birth control more accessible will lessen the amount of unwanted and unplanned pregnancies, especially with the recent discussions on abortions and abortion bans in the United States. Since the prohibition, many of the people able to conceive children have started a panicked pursuit to reduce the chances of unwanted pregnancies. Birth control is the answer for many of these individuals. However, for many people, this is not an easy fix, or it may not be an opportunity at all. Leanne Free is the author of “Perspective: Current Threats to Contraceptive Access,” where in her article, she discusses the number of unplanned pregnancies and how birth control impacts the rate of unwanted pregnancies. Free illustrates the intensity of the unplanned pregnancy rates in the article by stating that: “nearly half of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the United States were unintended, meaning mistimed or unwanted, and most of these could have been prevented with better access to contraception.” (Free, “Perspective: Current Threats to Contraceptive Access.”) This statement clearly displays the importance of contraceptive access and the overwhelming effect that birth control accessibility would have on these …show more content…
Contraceptives are a healthcare right and should be seen as such, considering that, in many cases, women's health relies on the accessibility of birth control and additional forms of contraceptives. In “Perspective: Current Threats to Contraceptive Access,” Free discusses some of the consequences biological women and children can encounter when contraceptive access is not of high quality or is not efficiently accessible. Free discusses some of the consequences of one scenario and states: Births resulting from unintended or closely spaced pregnancies can be associated with adverse maternal and child health outcomes such as delayed prenatal care, premature birth, and decreased rates of breastfeeding (Free, “Perspective: Current Threats to Contraceptive Access.”). This is important because it is another reason contraceptives are essential, not only for the parent who gave birth to the offspring, but also for an unintentionally conceived child. Health concerns pregnancies and childbirth have would likely be a strong motivator in someone's efforts to avoid pregnancy or, in the case of unintended pregnancies, have an