By Krystal Torres ’25
When people think of birth control they think of it only being something women use as a preventive measure to avoid getting pregnant. However, birth control has many other advantages that help women and make them healthier. In general, while the concept of abortion and birth control is sometimes seen negatively, it’s important to understand the backstory and hear why women want them. Some of these reasons could be because the child comes from a rape or incest case, or because the woman’s doctor advised it because the pregnancy is posing a threat to her life or health. Another reason for this could be the child being fatally injured while inside the mother’s womb. Women should always have the right to choose whether they want to have an abortion or not, and they should have access to contraceptives.
When people think of birth control they assume women only use it because they had unsafe sex or that they only want it to protect themselves. While that is true for some women, for others the use of birth control goes deeper than that. Birth controls come in 12 different ways and forms. The two most effective ones are IUDs and the implant. One that everyone knows and usually resorts to is the pill. Some women struggle with an irregular menstrual cycle. This means the gap between cycles is less than 21 days or more than 35 days. This isn’t a good thing and could indicate something wrong within one’s body. Birth control can help regulate the menstrual cycle and help improve health conditions. Birth control also helps reduce menstrual pains since they are extreme and painful. Some women describe menstrual cramps as equivalent to contractions or similar pain to when one gives birth which is why they choose to take birth control. Birth control also helps treat heart conditions, PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome, which is one of the conditions birth control helps with most. Therefore, women should have access to whatever birth control they want because it’ll give them control over their bodies.
Besides issues having access to birth control, abortion might also be necessary for women because the pregnancy could be threatening to the mother’s life or health. One way the pregnancy could be threatening is it could give the mother pregnancy-related high blood pressure, this is called gestational hypertension. It could also give the mother diabetes (gestational diabetes). These pregnancies are usually called high-risk pregnancies.
Another reason women might need an abortion is because the baby might have experienced fatal injury while being in the mother’s womb. For example, if the mother was to get into a car crash or experience some sort of trauma it could negatively affect the baby. One of the most common things that could happen to the child could be they develop cerebral palsy. This is a condition that affects movement and posture and there is no cure. While there’s nothing wrong with that, some mothers simply can’t care for a child that needs that much medical attention and help which is why they choose to get an abortion.
The last reason someone could choose to get an abortion is because they could’ve gotten pregnant due to sexual assault or incest. The child would be the outcome of a sexual assault case and the woman would have to be reminded of the trauma she experienced when looking at that child. The child would be directly linked to a traumatic event, which is not fair to the mother or the child. Incest is illegal in all fifty states so no woman would want to have a child that is the outcome of something illegal. Some might also find it shameful and be afraid to be judged.
Because of all these things, women should have the right to an abortion and access to contraceptives. Some reasons why abortion should be allowed are because of rape and incest, severe or fatal injury to the child, or the pregnancy posing a threat to the mother’s life or health. Contraceptives should be easily accessed because they do more than what the public eye thinks. They help regulate menstrual cycles, reduce menstrual pain, and help treat health conditions. When a woman says she wants to get an abortion instead of judging her, listen and understand her and support her through it. People should vote for politicians who support this issue and donate to organizations that support a woman’s choice. The decision is already hard, so there’s no reason to make it harder on them.
The Raider Press 