The only time in my life I was on birth control, it was in order to have a child. Specifically, it was to get my partner pregnant, using my egg. The birth control pills were to synch my cycle with hers so the doctors could do their reproductive magic.
I get almost as worked up about restrictions on birth control as I do about LGBT rights, however. Both are about personal freedoms, about controlling our own bodies and hearts. It is inevitably the same people who want to restrict knowledge about birth control who want to eliminate any mention of “homosexuality” from school curricula.
This week, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle rejected federal abstinence-education funds. To receive these funds, states must forbid teachers from discussing contraception and require them to say that sex within marriage is “the expected standard of sexual activity.” Since same-sex marriage is banned in most places, this standard by definition excludes LGBT relationships. Doyle’s move is a step in the right direction. Any message about abstinence needs to be part of a comprehensive sex-education program that talks about all reproductive choices and sexual orientations.
I’m blogging today in honor of Back Up Your Birth Control Day not because I have any immediate need for birth control, but because it is part of an interlocking group of freedoms that do impact me and my community. I’m blogging because as a mother, I am more aware than before of the needs of children in our society. Emergency contraception, or “back up” birth control, is available over-the-counter to adult women, but only by prescription to those younger than 18. We need to allow minors to choose this option without fearing reprisal and shame. Visit the Back Up Your Birth Control Web site to learn more.