Feb. 25, 2013
Taylor Eaton
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Birth control has become a need for women. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 99 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 who have had sex at least once have used some form of contraceptive.
It isn’t just for safe sex, though. According to the University of Florida, more than 726,000 women who are on birth control are not even sexually active.
Those women use birth control to help regulate menstrual cycles, ease cramps and help reduce the pains of migraines.
Whether it is for sex or health reasons, birth control can become expensive without health insurance, with prices ranging up to $200 depending on the brand and form of birth control.
This is why religious institutes, like private schools and workplaces, should be forced to make birth control available.
Making religious institutions provide birth control or the insurance for birth control does not have to compromise how one practices religion.
Religious work environments and schools should have to follow the same policy as non-religious workplaces and schools.
That being said, making these religious places follow the new policy does not mean the religions and their leaders have to change their views on contraceptives and sex – it’s just not allowed to affect the people working for them.
Abort73.com reported that in 2008 alone, 1.21 million women had abortions. More than 7 in 10 of those women reported a religious affiliation.
Contraceptives keep unwanted pregnancies from happening, which means that those abortions don’t have to happen.
Many churches have criticized politicians about abortions. For instance, the Catholic Church attacked former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for making a statement about the moment when life starts for the fetus. Pelosi continued to say that it did not matter when life started; it was the woman’s right to handle her pregnancy.
Churches would not have to chastise women about abortions if different forms of birth control were available for both men and women to obtain.
That means the churches need to be equitable in allowing their members and employees to have access to contraceptives.
Whether it is for health reasons or to prevent pregnancies, people need easy access to all forms of birth control.
Religious institutes need to be fair and follow the same policy as other workplaces and educational institutions by making birth control available to protect men and women.