THE RIGHT TO BIRTH CONTROL

BY JESSICA PORTER

TOPIC? WHY IS IT RELEVANT?

Should a womans insurance company and employers have the right to refuse a woman contraception?

NO!
99% of women use birth control at some point in their lives 58% of people who take the pill need it for reasons other than preventing pregnancies 47 million women are eligible to benefit

Currently, companies and employers have the right to say no to employees who ask for coverage for birth control because of the religious affiliation of the company, whether or not the employee has this religious views as well. This practice goes against the recently passed, Affordable Care Act or Obamacare in which women are guaranteed coverage of preventative medication such as birth control without copay.

ARTICLE: ARE YOUR

BIRTH CONTROL RIGHTS ENDANGERED?

This article was written by Womens Health Magazine which I found online on their website womenshealthmag.com The article was written in favor of women having the right to birth control without the permission of their employers coverage. The article was about seven pages long in which the first page stated their viewpoint. Its opening sentence was engaging and personal: You're probably one of the 99 percenters. Meaning, one of the 99 percent of American women who are or have been sexually active and have used some sort of birth control. The next page stated a personal story of a woman who accumulates a low income, pays for school loans, bills and daily necessities and is in fear that she will now have to start paying for birth control out of pocket which can become very costly in the long-run.

ARE YOUR BIRTH CONTROL RIGHTS ENDANGERED?

CONTD
The next few pages were a general overview of the laws that have been implemented to grant full access of birth control to all women in the United States including the current Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. Then continuing on the battles this topic presents like religious affiliation of the insurance company and employers. The article then ends by restating their viewpoint. The article was clear on their position while also clearly stating their intended audience, young adult and middle aged women (not to mention its the Women's Health Magazine. I consider this a reliable source because of its affiliation with health education towards women and the article was written by Gretchen Voss who is an award winning freelance journalist. The article also stated and sourced nation womens rights advocacy organizations, leaders, politicians and laws. I did feel this article was well written but I wished that they would have covered the other perspective instead of hammering seven pages of one sided ideas and facts.

ARTICLE: HIGH COURT

TAKES ON BIRTH CONTROL, ACTIVISTS IGNITED

This article was written by womensenews.org

The article spoke on the debate of rights to birth control that ignited a social media debate between activist of both viewpoints. The debate was mostly centered around the question of should religious affiliation of the insurance company and employers have an effect on what coverage is received by employees.
This article was reliable because of the sources they referenced like Senator Patty Murray, Cecile Richards, president of PlannedParenthood Federation of America and NARAL Pro-Choice America. I thought that this article was well written and simplistic. It was able to cover both viewpoints without being biased on which perspective the author favored over the other within two pages. I responded well to the perspective of a debate through social media because it became relatable to how many debates are argued now, over social media. The intended audience wasnt clearly defined but I assume this was targeted to young adult women who are well educated and familiar with Twitter.

ARTICLE: WOMEN'S PREVENTIVE SERVICES GUIDELINES

This article was written by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and published on their website hrsa.gov The article was an overview of the guidelines of the Affordable Care Act and what services are approved under this new service for example Well-woman visits Screening for gestational diabetes Counseling for sexually transmitted infections Contraceptive methods and counseling

The intended audience was a bit unclear but I assume by the content that it was targeted to women.

I felt that this was a very reliable source because it is a website issued officially by the U.S. government. This made it more helpful because it meant the content was not biased nor based upon the authors opinion.

CONCLUSION
For the most part, the majority of my sources have been reliable but a bit biased. Id like to do some more research in finding sources that are opposing perspectives.

"BIRTH CONTROL RIGHTS." Womenshealthmag.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/birth-control-rights>. "In The Courts." High Court Takes on Birth Control, Activists Ignited. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://womensenews.org/story/in-the-courts/131126/high-courttakes-birth-control-activists-ignited#.UvetPKVCfFI>. "Women's Preventive Services Guidelines." Women's Preventive Services Guidelines. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2014. <http://www.hrsa.gov/womensguidelines/>.