RANT: Birth Control

I stumbled upon a poll online this week that’s circulating around many different sites. 

The poll asks, “Should birth control be covered by health insurance?”

I don’t really know why, but for some strange reason, the answer to this question seemed so obvious to me. It didn’t require any thought on my part whatsoever. Honestly, I thought it was a no brainer.

Heck NO.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I read the results to this poll. On more than one website, 88% of people said yes, health insurance SHOULD cover birth control.

I’m all for freedom of opinion. 

So, here’s my freely expressed opinion, summarized into 3 points. 

1. Choosing whether or not to use birth control is a personal, private choice. 

Personal, private choices should NEVER, ever, ever require government intervention and/or assistance…. EVER. The government doesn’t tell you whether or not to have sex. Therefore, the government should not play a part in your choice to use or not use birth control. Birth control isn’t necessary for one’s well-being, but rather available for your convenience… kind of like plastic surgery, or getting a spray-tan. 

2. 13.3% of my small paycheck goes to our government. It makes me cringe to know that some of the money is going to preventing pregnancies.

I understand how rude and horrible that sounds… but let’s think about it. Where do most unwanted pregnancies come from? 

Teenagers. 

Teenagers have unprotected sex when they’re in no way ready to have and raise a child. Why? Well- no job, no education, no support, no home, no family, etc. I’ve seen the TV shows. I’m addicted to ‘Teen Mom’ and ‘16 & Pregnant’ and I totally 100% understand why these girls don’t want/can’t raise kids. 

BUT!

The problem here is NOT that they can’t afford freakin’ birth control. The problem in these situations is that they are HAVING SEX before they’re ready. Which brings me to point number 3.

3. Birth control is not the solution to the problem.

It amazes me what so many people really see as the problem here. 

Apparently, the problem is this: Singles and couples who aren’t ready to have/take care of babies are somehow miraculously still having babies.

Responsibly, the best thing for these individuals is to have birth control handed to them. (sarcasm)

Let’s break this down into some categories.

A. Teenagers. 

As I have previously mentioned, teenage pregnancy is not the issue. Teenage sex is the issue. I don’t care whether you believe in the bible or not. Although I believe that sex should be confined in the walls of marriage, this point can be made without that belief. 

Teenagers are not ready to have sex. There are just more important things to be focusing on in those years of your life. 

A lot of this comes down to your personal views about sex. In this society, it seems like sex is more of a game and something “everyone does.” It’s turned into a matter of peer pressure and humor. It’s hyped up in all of the movies, TV shows, magazines, books, jokes, billboards, etc. etc. etc. 

My personal beliefs are that sex is meant to be shared between two people that are absolutely in love with each other. Hence, the more acceptable term, “making love.”

This is harsh, and I know it, but if you’re 16 years old and you want to go around and have sex, then YOU can deal with the baby you make. 

I am not using 13% of the money that I worked for to make sure that you can freely sleep around without fear of the consequences.

B. Couples who just aren’t ready to have a baby.

This is understandable. I say all the time that even when I’m married, I don’t want to have kids right away.

But I still don’t think that insurance should cover the birth control. Firstly, there are other ways to prevent pregnancies, including all natural ways. 

Secondly, If you really, really don’t want to have a child, and you really, really can’t figure out any other way to prevent this from happening, then simply PAY for the birth control with YOUR earned money.

Am I the only one who thinks that’s so simple?

Conclusion.

I personally think that we’re trying to come up with a solution to a problem that isn’t even the problem.

It would be like saying, my REAL problem is- I really have to go to the bathroom, but my Mom says that my problem is that I’m thirsty- so the solution must be to drink more water. 

By drinking more water, I’m making my REAL problem 100x worse, but my Mom thinks I’m making it better. 

The REAL problem here is (or the majority of it)- People that aren’t ready to have sex, are having sex.

Our solution is- Let’s hand these people that aren’t ready to have sex, the tools they may need to have this sex that they aren’t ready for, without any possible consequence or responsibility. 

In reality, our “solution” is only making the real problem 10000000 times worse. 

If birth control is covered by health insurance, we’re simply encouraging everyone to have sex and not worry about what could happen. 

And how are we doing that?

By making the taxpayers lose more of their hard earned money to take care of it.

As if our country isn’t in enough financial trouble.

How is that teaching responsibility?? I don’t get it.

Asking “Should birth control be covered by health insurance” is basically like asking “Should criminals be handed bail money when they’re arrested?”

[Sorry to be harsh.]

~Amy