User:Ervalen/Birth control in the United States

Current Practices
Along with the benefits of using a protective method come some side effects that could lead to bigger issues down the road. There is the proven benefit of a decreased risk of anemia and benign breast disease for the women that take oral contraceptives as well as decreasing the potential for ovarian cysts to occur and cause damage. The most helpful medical application (besides preventing pregnancies) is the discovery that birth control greatly reduces a woman's risk of having ovarian or endometrial cancer. There are severe side effects that taking birth control causes, and some are life-threatening. The two most popular women-controlled contraceptives (oral contraceptives and IUDs) will be discussed due to their popular usage and the knowledge that needs to accompany them. The first is that taking oral contraceptives increases the risk of a woman having cardiovascular disease, hypertension, heart attacks, and tumors of the liver. The greater the dosage of estrogen, the greater the chances of the body malfunctioning in some way. IUDs have the potential to cause tubal infertility, uterine perforations, and pelvic inflammatory disease. These risks are severe and need to be properly analyzed before a woman selects her birth control, but if the woman is healthy and young and does not smoke, her chances of complications occurring lessen. A visit with a local gynecologist and primary care doctor is also necessary for a proper selection to be made, as there are several different types of birth control and each has its pros and cons.

Birth control has come far from where it has started, but without appropriate health care, birth control is too expensive and cannot be utilized. Obamacare made it possible for everyone with health insurance to receive free contraceptive measures so that everyone had the opportunity to protect themselves with all eighteen versions of FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved contraceptives. This includes all of the following: sterilization surgery for women (“getting your tubes tied”), IUD (copper and with progestin), an implantable rod, an injection, oral contraceptives (which includes the combined pill, the extended/continuous use pill, and the mini pill with only progestin), the patch, the vaginal ring, diaphragms with spermicide, sponges with spermicide, cervical caps with spermicide, female condoms, spermicide only, and emergency contraceptives. Male condoms and vasectomies were not covered over Obamacare, but male condoms are accessible at most pharmacies and convenience stores.

When health care steps forward in the right direction and protects the citizens it swears to protect, we see barriers fall down and people from different walks of the globe come together in safe ways. Due to insurance paying for birth control, women are able to receive more efficient and safer methods that protect them far more than a common birth control method could. States see that preventative measures are less expensive than paying for palliative measures, and so want to protect birth control coverage. 2014 was the first time a state break through Obamacare and offer even more free birth control access to its citizens, which was California working its political prowess. Each state has made an effort to better life for its citizens, but all are different in what they allow and what they don’t. States like California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington provide the most coverage over birth control methods, especially focusing on prescriptions, over the counter methods (like female condoms), female sterilization, and the pill.

The Affordable Care Act, or ACA, protects employees and makes insurance cover other safety measures for women that fall under preventative measures. The Institute of Medicine made a list for women’s health so that all insured women would be protected no matter what. This list includes: one preventative care visit, screening for gestational diabetes (diabetes that occurs during pregnancy), HPV (human papillomavirus) testing, STI (sexually transmitted infections) counseling, HIV (human immune-deficiency virus), counseling and screening, contraceptive measures, lactation support and counseling and breastfeeding equipment is available to be rented, and lastly, screening and counseling for those suffering or those who have suffered from domestic violence.

Of course there are exemptions for insurance agencies that women need to watch out for so they are covered for all things they require. The major exemption is for houses of worship or places that focus on religious beliefs. If these corporations and companies were forced to pay for contraceptives against their will, it would be infringing upon their religious beliefs which goes against the Constitution. Another way for companies to find exemptions is to claim that they as a whole have a moral obligation against aiding women in retrieving and using contraceptives.

Influence of religion
In 2014, the Supreme Court decided that for-profit corporations may offer insurance plans that do not cover contraception, by the rationale that the owners may hold that certain contraceptives violate their religious beliefs. This was a setback for the federal government's attempt to create a uniform set of health care insurance benefits.

Many organizations, such as the previously mentioned Hobby Lobby company, use religion and morals as reasons for denying women contraceptives, yet there are statistics that show how the American public as a whole feels about contraceptives. Only four percent of the American population sees contraceptives as morally wrong. Catholics, as a religious group, are known to be outright against topics such as contraceptives and abortion, however when asked how they felt about contraceptives, eight percent of Catholics thought it was morally wrong, forty-one percent thought it was morally acceptable, and forty-eight percent, or nearly half, of the Catholic population saw contraceptives as not being a moral issue. When Catholics that went to weekly mass were polled, nine percent saw contraceptives as a moral issue, thirty-eight percent saw contraceptives as morally acceptable, and fifty percent saw contraceptives a not a moral issue.