When it was first announced that non-religious companies (don't get me started on the religious ones) would no longer be required to provide coverage for birth control I had so many feels.
I am a full believer in a woman's right to choose and I believe that choice starts off with her being able to decide when and where she wants to become pregnant. And with this announcement, I wanted to start shouting facts and figures to the world about teen pregnancy rates, rape, and family planning. Fortunately for you readers I have since calmed down. Today I would like to address the important role birth control has played in my life. The reason I started birth control is seldom talked about in the media or in politics but among women it is well known. Raise your hand if you've ever heard the terms dysmenorrhea or PMDD. If you haven't, you are the luckiest bitch on the planet and I envy you. Dysmenorrhea is defined as pain with menstruation or menstrual cramps and PMDD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, is defined as a severe form of PMS that interferes with everyday life. To be diagnosed with both or either of these you have to have got it bad...and boy do I have it bad. Typically, I know I am getting my period not by counting days and tracking my cycle but by the onset of flu-like symptoms, followed by excruciating pain in my abdomen and lower back. This pain is so intense that I can't walk, the fetal position doesn't even provide comfort, and I am vomiting. Fun Fact: Almost every time I vomit I have an anxiety attack, so we throw that into the mix too. Simply put the first days of my period I am not a functioning human. Imagine having to skip school or call in sick to work every single month. That was my life before I went on birth control. Birth control is the only thing proven to provide the relief I need. Three years after starting my period I began taking the pill and it changed my life. Today I have the Nexplanon implant and frankly the company should pay me the way I try to convince people to get it. Without coverage from my insurance both of these options would be unattainable. In fact it's kind of a Catch-22, if I can't afford birth control, then I will have to miss work and if I miss work, then I make less money and can't afford birth control. When debates about birth control come up people always seem to forget about the benefits it provides women outside of preventing pregnancy; there are so many conditions that require the hormone based therapy birth control provides. And I get that the government is mostly filled with men but is it really that bad for me to want just a little bit of sympathy?
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