On Birth Control

Birth Control is Important

One of the most controversial conversations amongst many parties today is the decision of women's health: whether they should be provided maternal paid leave after pregnancy, whether or not they exaggerate about menstrual symptoms, whether or not they actually need birth control, etc. These are very asinine arguments, especially since the last subject could be a quick solution to all of the above. Birth control is an important part of women's health and should be distributed at little to no cost, as it can lower abortion rates, assist women in medical situations, and protect the environment from overpopulation since it is a preventative of pregnancy.

Having a baby comes with many emotional and physical changes that many women may be unable to deal with due to age, mental/physical health, or even financial status. Pregnancy causes financial disruption due to the fact that raising children is a very expensive task. That being said, if birth control were out of the picture, women would consistently become pregnant with children that they do not want, are unprepared for, nor can they afford the care taking. They in turn would seek alternatives to their problem, including abortion procedures. Abortion is a controversial topic on its own, but in short, it is not an acceptable alternative to many people-especially those associated with religion. Not only is abortion frowned upon by many, but it is very hard on the female body and can cause infertility, damage to the organs, and many other undesirable side effects. Providing easily accessible birth control will prevent unwanted pregnancies, therefore lowering the rate of abortion and also protecting women from going through such harmful maneuvers that could have been prevented in the first place.

While birth control is a grand contraceptive, (being in the name and all), it has other medicinal properties for women as well. Women are prescribed birth control for a multitude of reasons. Some have hormonal imbalances that only the right form of birth control can handle. Others use it to regulate their menstrual cycles, or even make their menstrual cramps less severe. Imagine being unable to stand up in the shower because your lower abdomen is in excruciating pain. Yes, this is a very real situation; it happens. Birth control is able to settle that pain. It also assists ladies with ovarian cysts. Some even use it to clear up acne! There is so much more to birth control than many people realize. It even helps to protect the environment!

You may ask how birth control has anything to do with the environment. Scientifically, everything that exists in the world coincides with one another and each individual thing has its own impact. Birth control definitely has a positive impact on our planet. The worst thing that one can do for the environment is to reproduce. This is because overpopulation has become a prominent issue, and the Earth is unable to provide enough of its natural resources to support all of its inhabitants, let alone the ones on their way. For many of Earth's resources, it takes the planet thousands to millions of years to regenerate them, and humans are using up far too many for it to keep up because of supply and demand. With access to birth control, women will not reproduce as many children, nor as quickly.

This is especially important for those who live in poverty, and currently cannot afford birth control. Studies have shown that countries that are the highest in poverty tend to also be highest in population due to lack of education and lack of access to contraceptives. SInce raising children is so expensive, it is almost impossible for women to rise out of poverty once having children, and they end up stuck in an endless cycle. If birth control, which is 99.9% effective, was available to all for virtually free, women in poverty may be able to bring themselves out of that state. Although a few may argue that there is no such thing as free birth control because taxes would rise, doing just that would be the better economical decision. Families would be able to get out of poverty and the tax money paid by the citizens would not have to be sent to these families because they will be able to financially stabilize themselves. They won't have to struggle to support multiple children, so the checks that the government would normally send in aid to families who cannot support their children will instead be able to be put back into the people.

No matter what, people will always disagree on this subject. Religious people are against birth control because it is unnatural and that if a woman becomes pregnant, it is God's will. This is a very unrealistic idea, because some women are more fertile than others. If all women did not have birth control and followed this absurd idea, the world would be extremely overpopulated and the poverty rate would be through the roof. Women would have too many children that they are unable to support, or care for financially. These children would suffer without many necessities and some may not have access to proper education. That is not God's will.

Some people try to combat this issue by saying that women can just stop having sex. This is a highly unrealistic solution as well. As a society, it is time to grow up and stop treating sex as a taboo subject. It is a biological, natural instinct and amongst the human world, sex is not solely for reproduction. Imagine a world that is exceedingly overpopulated because of inaccessibility of birth control. Every family has no less than five children, and they all live in small, clustered houses or apartments bunched closely together in poor neighborhoods. No one is financially stable enough to have another child, abortion is outlawed, and birth control is much too expensive for anyone to afford- even the most well off families there. (Side note: There are countries that are actually going through this situation; it's not going well.) The women have no other choice but to go abstinent. In this situation, crime rates would increase because according to recent studies, poverty-stricken areas have the highest crime rates. Not only that, but because men and women would become very frustrated because of the biological instinct to engage in sexual activity. People would become violent and irritable. It's not a pretty situation, and in essence, it's most certainly not a good idea. It is pretty ridiculous to expect women to deny themselves sex in the first place, since as previously stated, it is not just for reproduction. Women are people too and have that same natural instinct.

Birth control is a very important pill, shot, IUD, etc. It is vital to women for their own safety by preventing them from having to seek abortion procedures, and assisting them in multiple medical issues. Two very appealing aspects to those who look at things from a scientific and economic perspective are that birth control has a very positive impact on the environment and the economy by preventing over usage of the planet's natural resources by maintaining stable populations and by reducing chances of pregnancy amongst those in poverty and therefore giving them the opportunity to get out of it. Despite other people's beliefs that birth control is unnatural, against God's will, or replaceable by abstinence, birth control does far more good than not, and should be distributed throughout the world to women at virtually no cost. The facts are there for you to observe through research; all you have to do is open up your mind to understanding.