It was not over 50 years ago that birth control was legalized, yet we might just have to fight to keep it that way. It is not completely unheard of that women have been refused their birth control solely because unmarried women having sex was against the pharmacists moral beliefs. Wow! First of all, who cares what they think, secondly, not being able to get birth control wouldn’t prevent premarital sex from happening. Refusing to fill a woman’s birth control prescription is just wasting everyone’s time. College campuses have even started refusing to supply free or low-cost birth control to students.
According to Jessica Valenti in Full Frontal Feminism, the reproductive rights of women are now under attack. Not only are we still fighting for equality, but we are also struggling to keep the ground we have already covered as well. Valenti states, “…repro rights are about more than abortion and birth control. They’re about being able to have sex when we want to. They’re about having affordable, accessible contraception. They’re about being able to control our bodies even if we can’t drive a car or vote yet.” (81)
No matter what your views on premarital sex and abortion are, women should be allowed to control their own reproductive lives. We hear complaints about high teen pregnancy and abortion rates, yet the government is trying to take away one of the primary tools of pregnancy prevention? That doesn’t exactly make sense. If government officials think that making birth control unattainable is going to keep girls’ pants on, they are pretty naïve.
