Spring

14

My Ovaries in the Hands of My Boss?

By Jessica Porter English 1102 Mon/Weds

So, I have a cousin who I am very close with. When I was about thirteen years old I began my menstrual cycle and I came to her for advice. She then proceeded to tell me her story as if this was the right of passage into womanhood that all girls had to listen to. Eagerly sitting at the tip of my bed I listened. My cousin started her period at the young age of nine, which was very uncommon in the 70s. The boys ridiculed her in her class because she was starting to develop faster than the other girls. After a while, her periods sidelined her from activities because they were so heavy or she was bedridden for the first few days of her menstrual cycle due to extreme cramps. Trying not to scare me as much as she already had, she reiterated that this was a beautiful process of womanhood but I had to take responsibility of my own reproductive system. Good intro! My cousins lesson was accurate and on time, which made me think at a young age, are all girls told this story? As I shared my experience of that time of the month with friends over the many years I have realized that every female at the end of her coming to womanhood story is toldtake responsibility for yourself and your body first. Except now, women are not allowed to have full control of their own bodies. Reproductive rights are becoming limited because women in the United States have restricted access to contraception due to their insurance companies. Should a womans insurance company and employers have the right to refuse a woman contraception? Maybe make a paragraph explaining what contraception is to explain to those who dont know what it is. Womens rights activist Susan B. Anthony once said, I think the girl who is able to earn her own living and pay her own way should be as happy as anybody on earth. The sense of independence and security is very sweet. Mrs. Anthony is right;

a woman with intelligence, a sense of security and independence is awe-inspiring. Mothers across America strive for this in their daughters and fathers alike dont want their little girls only depending on a man. Nonetheless, these same women with surmountable independence have to become reliant on their employers and insurance companies to decide if they can be given prescribed birth control. The only person who should have access to decision of using birth control should be the woman using it. Authorized on August 1, 2012, the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare was set into place that expanded the coverage of preventive health services for women without copay, this included contraception. Obamacare was meant to make contraception more accessible and not just accessible for women who can afford it. However, religious employers and companies such as Hobby Lobby are arguing that obeying the Affordable Care Act is sacrilegious and infringes on their religious freedoms. As of this year, the Supreme Court has decided to hear two court cases, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius, both in which a cases to decided the extent of coverage in the workplace for contraception. Reword The controversy ignited both liberals and conservatives beginning an all out war of words on social media. Lifenews.com founder Steven Ertelt spoke out against reproductive rights by tweeting Liberals claimed opposition to mandate was a Catholic thing, SCOTUS accepts challenges from evangelicals/Mennonites. The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, NARAL Pro-Choice America took this opportunity as a platform to defend

women whose reproductive rights have been put into jeopardy because of the religious affiliation of their employers. NARAL President Ilyse Hogue said in a press statement that there is "an underlying obsession with controlling women's lives and that those who cite religious beliefs for withholding birth control to their employees are not pushing to deny men access to Viagra or any other number of similar medical requests covered by insurance." Cecile Richards, president of PlannedParenthood Federation of America is quoted saying it is a slippery slope when for-profit employers make decisions about employees according to their own medical preferences. It is true that religious freedoms need to be complied and Hobby Lobby should be able to state that theyre a religious company but religious freedoms also mean that one has the right to be atheist. Also, a woman has the right to not have religious views and practices forced upon her by her employer. In the mist of this war of words, NARAL Pro-Choice America lists three statistics in favor of reproductive rights. They stated 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

The fact is that birth control has many more benefits other than protecting women from pregnancy. For example, my cousin had heavy periods at a very young age, if she had gone to a physician, they would have prescribed her oral contraception. Her prescription would have also lessened the intensity of her cramps, preventing her from missing school as much. Adequate access to oral

contraception has also decreased the rate of infant and maternal mortality. With contraception, women have decided to have smaller families, which has allowed a mother to have full control over her household. The rate of child abuse and neglect has gone down in countries where a woman has full access to birth control. However, in the United States due to the limitations in many states, the rate of infant mortality and maternal mortality has not decreased but increased. However, there are still those who believe that contraception should not be required to include to be included in health care packages under religious, especially Catholic based organizations. These organizations argue that this goes against their religious beliefs, which isnt the first time that safety procedures have gone against religious beliefs. For example, Jehovah witnesses do not accept blood infusions no matter the circumstances and that right is respected. Against the common belief by most people, Catholics supported the idea of Obamacare especially the concept of free health care and inclusion. Catholic institutes should not be forced to pay or offer something that is against their beliefs. Conclusively, full access to birth control for women in the United States can have many health benefits but the limiting access has no benefits. All women across the United States should be allowed contraception no matter the religious affiliation of her employer and insurance company. My cousin was right in saying that I needed to take responsibility of my own body but now the right is quickly being put into jeopardy. Good concluding sentence!

This paper was really interesting to read. I believe you did a good job in opening up your paper with the personal story as an introduction. The concluding sentence was also well done. Overall, I believe your paper flowed and got the point across. I would suggest to elaborate more on certain points to make your paper longer. Maybe add more information with more research that you find. Also remember to alphabetize your works cited and add page numbers. Overall, your paper was really good!

Peer Reviewed by Amy Cortes

"PRO & CON: Two Views of the Debate over including Contraception in Health Care Insurance." New Haven Register. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

"BIRTH CONTROL RIGHTS." Womenshealthmag.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/birth-control-rights>. BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/susanbant402809.html>. "The Fight for Reproductive Rights." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/57b.asp>. "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-court-takesbirth-control-activists-ignited#.UvetPKVCfFI>. "Mshist." Mshist. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://wyatt.elasticbeanstalk.com/mep/MS/xml/mshist.html>. "Reproductive Health." Birth Control, Abortion Crucial to Reducing Deaths. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://womensenews.org/story/reproductivehealth/131013/birth-control-abortion-crucial-reducing-deaths#.Uvet56VCclI>. "Reproductive Health." Religious Birth Control Barriers Block the Best RX. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://womensenews.org/story/reproductivehealth/140207/religious-birth-control-barriers-block-the-best-rx#.UvepbaVCclI>. "REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS." Womenshealthmag.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. <http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/reproductive-rights>. "Women's Preventive Services Guidelines." Women's Preventive Services Guidelines. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2014. <http://www.hrsa.gov/womensguidelines/>.