Share Your Story: What does birth control without co-pays mean for you?

I am 70 years old.  Throughout my adult life, I have used "the pill" for several different reasons  -most of them having nothing to do with preventing pregnancy.  Therein lies the misconception pertaining to what we refer to as  "birth control" or contraception.I feel that every media person, and most people who comment on "birth control" and "contraceptives" are almost always missing a key point: What we have come to call birth control" is really hormonal therapy and it is used for FAR MORE than preventing pregnancy. It is also used to regulate a woman's menstrual cycle so she can plan a desired preganancy  (proconception use), prevent hemorrhaging, treat ovarian cysts, reduce severe pain (cramps) during menstruation, rebuild the vaginal wall, strengthen the uterus, help with adverse effects of PMS, help with menopausal and post menopausal female health problems, and is used to alleviate female health problems in cases of endometriosis. These little pills are not only used for family planning, and are used for FAR MORE than preventing pregnancy.   It's time to for all women, the media, the men, the legislators, and everyone else to abandon the terms "birth control' and "contraception" and call the pill what it is: HORMONAL THERAPY. (If legislators can force the change from "global warming" to "climate change", we should be able to force the change from "birth control" and "contraqceptives" to the more accurate term of HORMONAL THERAPY.

No matter where are oppinions varie, we will have democraziced birth control whether those religious right hate-mongers and their friends from high places like it or not.  Yes everyone, there will be a time that birth control will be 100% accepted by all walks of life--without religious intolerance and institutional hate--so we Americans will see that it stays that way for all of eternity.  There are a set of highly important reasons why birth control is so important in this day and age, as they include.  Birth control is a safe medical practice that can not only relieve overcrowding in various communities everywhere, but can improve society and people's lives as well.  You think birth control is a practice done only in Communist or Islamic countries, then you are dead wrong.  Birth control has proved to work just as great and successful in a democracy and their have been hardly any controversy about it.  And must we remind ourselves that we are facing an overpopulation crises around the world?  Well it's true, and birth control is just one of a few great remedies that could help relieve us from overpopulation.  Oh yes, for those right-wing attacks on birth control, this results in a serious threat on human rights and it has to stop right now whether both those right-wing bigots or hate institutions alike like it or not.  They even said the same thing about gun control nearly 55 years ago, but when crime rates increased in the free world in the 1960's and 1970's, that is when gun control was welcomed by democratic governments and put into law, so as a result, gun control was hailed as another way on severely cutting down homicides.  Especially in places like Europe, where gun control is an important way of life, it still works just as great as ever in not only preventing gun violence, but keeping their people safe from homicides as well.  We all know that the United States will never have gun control, we Americans will gracefully embrace birth control as a premier solution in preventing unwanted births and used as another way in improving our communities.  Birth control will not only be greatly welcomed in Africa and the United States, but it will be dramatically approved on every continent on the globe with great fundemental success.  Now let's have a clear view on what birth control will give to all of us and the economic- social benifits it will give us, that way we will all have a better understanding on the best birth control has to offer.  A healthy majority of Americans just happens to support birth control, so this indicates as another hard reason why we need birth control and how much we understand about the true life-improving facts we know about birth control.  Many from the rest of the world will agree that birth control is a safe and  highly successful medical practice that poses no threat to the social or economic fabric of our daily life, so their is no denying it.  We just have to have a bright and honest view of birth control--and especially the good it provides to all of us.

I am a 40 year old divorced mother with three beautiful daughters, ages, 16,20 and 21. Birth control withoutco-pays means "EVERYTHING" to me and my girls! Even with medical insurance, and good medical insurance too, our co-pays for the gynocological visits were $25.00 per person, per visit! It would cost $100.00 for me and my 3 daughters to get an exam not to mention the over $30 to fill birth control prescriptions (my insurance doesnt cover birth control), so thats $220 all together for me and my daughters to see the gyno, and get prescriptions filled! Ive had to many times skip my gyno visit so i could afford both the visits and birth control prescriptions for my girls, and at 40 thats NOT safe! Birth control without co-pays means that i will be able to afford to also be seen at the gyno for the first time in over 5 years, and it also means that my daughters will never have to worry about making a decision to NOT be seen at the gyno because they cant afford it! Thanks to ALL who helped this pass by signing petitions advocating and spreading the word and mostly thanks to the National Womens Law Center for getting the message out there and helping the birth control without co-pay to even come about!!!

I believe that if the U.S. is truly committed to universal health care, that the universal aspect should extend to ALL aspects of health, which includes reproductive choice.