International Women’s Day Post.

Happy Women's Day!

So. I promise to be that friend (and I was that sister). I will hold your hand and ask you that blunt and tasteless question, that difficult topic of readiness and selected life path. I'm going to ask you what you're going to do when you come to me and tell that you're pregnant.

I’m Pro-Choice; I  support abortions. Please keep reading. I won’t go into detail to defend my belief, in that I think all women ultimately have right to make this decision because it’s their body. I won’t waste time in telling you that no woman should be coerced or guilt driven into a lifetime of responsibility that they aren’t quite ready for or simply don’t want to have. To comment on the long-standing argument of a fetus being a child at the time of conception, I just want to ask, why do we could a child’s age when they leave the birth canal and enter into the world rather than at the time of conception?

Please keep reading. This isn’t the point of such a heated topic. I’m not about to try to change your perspective on abortion. I want to discuss a way in which I believe women can have this internal argument less, or possibly avoid the abortion decision altogether. I believe accidental pregnancies and unwanted babies could be significantly lowered if British Columbia and Canada as a whole provided free Birth Control Pills to the general public.*

Birth Control Reasons.

The cost of abortion is covered under BC Medical Coverage. Did you know that? You can get on the BC Medical Service Plan (MSP) as long as you’ve lived in BC for the last three months or if you are covered by someone else's Plan and all information will be kept confidential (Health Wise Staff, 2013). It costs roughly $500 to perform an abortion (Womens, 2013). Without Extended Health Care coverage the cost of Birth Control Pills are roughly $15-$50 per month (Galvin, 1995-2015). Mine were $30 per month, which for awhile I was mailing to my sister in Miami because she didn't have Extended Medical Coverage. The first argument that comes to mind would be that in order for MSP to be able to cover the cost of birth control pills, provincial taxes would increase, but I want to contradict this.  In BC the annual average of single and two parent families who are mentally and physically able to work, and on social assistance are 4,754 and 14,235 people within British Columbia (Time Reports, 2015). We know the cost of living in Canada, specifically BC, is not low.  I believe this number would be significantly lower, and therefore the taxes that go towards living assistance and the costs incurred to perform abortions will be lowered because less people would need them, so the left over funds could be used to counter the costs of Birth Control Pills. 

I understand that Birth Control Pills won’t protect against STI’s or HIV/Aids, but this isn’t the point of the conversation, the point is to lower pregnancy rates. Further, I don’t think that covering the costs Birth Control Pills will promote sex. I think it will help omit pregnancy. The option to be sexually active is ultimately up to the individual regardless of this contraception, which is the same for Sexual Education in the classroom

Regardless if you’re Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, I think both sides can agree that the increased use in Birth Control Pills will help omit having to make decision to have an abortion.  So now that we’ve found something to agree on, the only question is what are the next steps in making this happen?

Smiles,

Kirstin

I'm that Liberal, Pro-Choice, Outspoken, Feminist they warned you about. - A button I found.

Reference:

 

Galvin, Mary. (1995-2015). About Birth Control: The Birth Control Pill. Retrieved from     http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/sexual_health/bcpills.html

Health Wise Staff. (2013). Health Link BC [Abortion]. Retrieved from http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthtopics/content.asp?hwid=tw1040

Time Reports. (Feb 28, 2015). BC Employment and Assistance Current Month Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.hsd.gov.bc.ca/research/15/02-jan2015.pdf

Womens (2013). Types of Abortions. Retrieved from http://www.bcwomens.ca/Services/HealthServices/abortion-reproductive-education/abortion-services/types_of_abortions.htm

*Oops, I guess I did provide my rationale for being Pro-Choice, but I knocked it down from three to one paragraphs.