Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Womens Reproductive Rights

The article My Fight for Birth Control was particularly touching. I found it incredibly sad, but I know that's probably something that happens significantly less today than when this article was written.When a friend in high school had to go to Planned Parenthood, she asked me to go with her for she didn't have to go alone. I was a little nervous at first, as I didn't really know what to expect. The first room we went into wasn't bad; just like a normal doctors waiting room. But, the next one was probably one of the worst times of my life. My friend had to visit their pharmacy and go back with a doctor. The only seats left in the second room were two behind a woman and what I presumed to be her boyfriend. The woman was sobbing, she cried the whole time. Towards the end of our visit I heard her mention an abortion. I'm pro choice and I understood that this was probably best for them or they wouldn't be doing it, but it just ripped my heart apart.  
The birth control article relates a lot to Jessica Valenti's chapter If These Uterine Walls Could Talk, which also talks about reproductive rights. In this chapter she talks about a few different birth control options including Emergency Contraceptive (EC) and condoms. She mentions not being able to get birth control on college campus. If I remember correctly, we should consider ourselves lucky. VCUs Students Health Services lays out what they offer : http://www.students.vcu.edu/health/clinics/  . They even offer a link to www.arhp.org, which has an interactive tool to help you choose a method of birth control that is right for you. They ask you questions about your sexual activity and any other diseases you have had and you are supposed to print out your results and bring to the appointment with your doctor to discuss what your possibilities are. They also offer condoms that are available in their examine rooms.
I feel like our birth control rights are our options, but we must also help towards the birth control rights of all women for we will be able to have our own options. Like Jessica Valenti ends her fifth chapter: The only question is - what will you do?

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