By Renee O’Connor, Opinion Editor
Abortion and birth control. One of the hottest topics today, widely debated amongst people on both sides of the political spectrum. But should it be? While many people believe this is a very black and white topic, it’s quite the opposite.
According to The New York Times, the Trump administration has destroyed $10 million worth of taxpayer funded birth control, all of which was meant for women in low-income countries. This seems to stem from this administration’s obsession with women’s pregnancies. Let me make this very clear: birth control is not solely used for preventing pregnancies. Birth control is healthcare.
To understand that, we must first understand conditions like endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (or PCOS), and hormones. Regardless of the form of birth control, they can all be used to minimize symptoms of those conditions and help regulate hormones.
Due to the administration’s clear lack of concern for women’s health, there will now be millions of women who cannot receive the treatment they so desperately need. Endometriosis and PCOS are no joke. Endometriosis and PCOS causes weight gain, unimaginable pain, and heavy bleeding that puts many women in hospitals. Taking away the only thing that truly helps regulate these painful conditions is cruel.
Now, this is a subject that is incredibly important to me. As someone who uses birth control to regulate my pain and hormones, this is a terrifying administration to live under. No other medication has worked for me, and I know many other women who feel the same way I do.
My cycle has sent me to the ER, and have made me cold sweat, shake, cry, throw up, and faint. When I thought it couldn’t get worse, there was no medication that could ease my symptoms. Without birth control, that could be a reality that I live in every month.
Even if birth control was solely for preventing pregnancies, that should not be banned either. Having a child born out of rape, incest, or into a family who can’t support them is mean to the child. Why would you rather have that than for the mother to wait until she can support it, or furthermore, wants to birth the child? What is the obsession with regulating women’s bodies and choices? We have fought for our rights, and to see them so easily stripped is a reality we’ve never imagined.
Birth control is more than just preventing pregnancies. The same could be said about abortions, which is also more than just getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy. It saves women’s lives who have an unviable pregnancy, meaning the child is already not going to be able to be delivered.
Several women living in red states have lost their lives due to abortion bans. This could very well be the future for women who need birth control to regulate their hormones. If this is the pro-life movement, why do we not care about the women’s lives being lost? America, please show the women in this country that you care more about our health than control over our bodies.