The Birth Control Debate

There is currently a political debate about whether or not women should be entitled birth control paid for by health insurance they receive through their workplace.  President Barack Obama has mandated women receive paid-for birth control, but presidential candidates like Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have extremely conservative ideas on this issue. 
 
Mitt Romney said Planned Parenthood clinics should be closed, and Santorum said contraception is “inexpensive,” therefore if women want or need it, they should pay for it themselves. This debate raises the questions: who chooses what women do to their body and their reasons for doing it?

 
“If politicians do not want to insure birth control, then they better find money for the extra welfare taxpayers would have to assist in paying for larger families,” sophomore bioengineering major Julia Rodenas, said.
 
Birth control pills cost between $15 and $50 per month and require a prescription.  They work by increasing hormone levels in a woman’s body, which prevent a woman’s ovaries from releasing eggs, thus stopping her period and decreasing her chances of getting pregnant. 
 
According to Planned Parenthood, the pill has other uses in addition to contraception. It helps reduce menstrual cramps, makes periods lighter and decreases premenstrual symptoms, including headaches and depression.
 
“A woman on birth control is not necessarily even having sex,” freshman English major Brigette Fine said. “It’s used for acne treatment, to help regulate a woman’s [menstrual] cycle and more.  Some people use birth control to not get pregnant, but some take it for other reasons.”

 
Another argument raised is that if it is harder for females to have access to birth control, why isn’t it more difficult for men to have access to condoms?
 
“I think it is hypocritical to condemn birth control, but not condemn condoms,” Fine said.  “It’s a double standard to say men should have safe sex but women shouldn’t take control of their own bodies and try to protect themselves.”
 
To work to their full capacity, birth control pills must be taken at the same time every day.  If taken this way, less than 1 percent of women will get pregnant.  However, about 9 percent of women on the pill will get pregnant if they do not take the pill as directed, according to Planned Parenthood.

 
Condoms are less effective than birth control pills taken properly.  Although they are tested for defects, 2 percent of women will get pregnant every year even if they always use condoms correctly with their partner.  And 18 percent of women will become pregnant if they don’t always use condoms correctly.
 
If women are taking birth control for its intended use, then it’s a good thing, sophomore art studio major Leslie Osmont said.  “It’s better to not have a generation of kids who are neglected because they have parents who were unprepared to have them,” she said.
 
Birth control, unlike condoms, does not prevent sexually transmitted infections or diseases, according to Planned Parenthood.  However, if taken for the sole purpose of preventing pregnancy, birth control pills are more effective.
 
“What costs more, a pill or a kid?” Rodenas said.