The Importance of Birth Control Accessibility (P.S. It’s Not Just About Contraception)

When I was twelve, about a year after I got my first period, I started experiencing nothing short of excruciating pain surrounding my menstruation. Many others who experience menstruation, if not most, would relate. However, people I have told in the past were usually surprised when they heard that I used to miss school because my cramps were so bad. Subsequently, when I eventually spoke to my gynecologist the first thing I was told was that cramps so painful to the point that they interfere with day-to-day life are actually not normal. Unfortunately, this was after about three years of monthly suffering, starting with cramps that made me miss lunch or school, and escalating to the point at which I would often throw up or experience considerable nausea.

Finally, my mother and I spoke with my gynecologist. We all agreed that a first step to relieving some of this debilitating pain would be trying birth control (perhaps better known as “the pill”). Mind you, the purpose of taking birth control as a fourteen year-old, personally, was not for contraception or even easier tracking of an irregular cycle, it was for pain.

While some of the pain was relieved, I eventually started experiencing dull cramps all month long and slightly less intense pain than before while menstruating. At this point I consulted an endometriosis specialist (a doctor who treats the condition where endometrial tissue that is meant to line the uterus grows outside the uterus) who suggested I skip the placebo pill and not get my period at all, which is as far as I’ve gotten in my journey. While the pain isn’t anywhere near what I experienced throughout middle school, it’s still there, and it’s pretty constant.

I don’t know what my doctors will propose next, but for now “the pill” is playing an immense part in my life at least preventing the majority of the pain, leaving me with slight daily discomfort instead.

Needless to say, without birth control my menstrual pain would still be running much of my life. Without it I would likely still be missing a day or two of school monthly, which might not sound like a lot, but would certainly add up.

Sacrificing my education because someone (probably some random man in a suit) thinks I should not have affordable access to birth control is unjustified. There is no situation in which my education should be affected because I am a human who gets periods. I have no control over my body’s natural processes.

I certainly have privilege that benefits me in this scenario. My family has insurance and could most likely pay for birth control even if our insurance didn’t cover it, and I am surrounded by supportive people. But it’s impossible to say that there aren’t other people with similar cases in less privileged areas or in less privileged families. Why should their education, day-to-day life, or even general comfort be sacrificed because some people aren’t aware of the numerous vital functions of birth control? It appears that some see birth control as a privilege and not as healthcare, whereas for me, it actually reduces my pain. I am almost certain that that makes my birth control count as healthcare.

Some people use birth control for contraception as no one should be forced to go through childbirth when it could be avoided. Some use it to regulate menstrual cycles, because there are many unpleasantries to being unaware of when your next period will come. Some use it for acne. Some use it for pain. Some use it to simply make their periods more manageable (because oddly enough, some people don’t feel like bleeding for 7 days). Some use it to eliminate their periods altogether. These are all logical reasons and no one should have the right to take these away or to regulate what we do with our bodies.

by ANONYMOUS