Life
Many people assume birth control is something you just have access without even thinking about it. Maybe they have the resources, maybe they just live somewhere where it's easy to get — but for some, it's easy to think that birth control is readily available. But that's just not the case for so many women. Power To Decide, a campaign to stop unplanned pregnancy, just released a survey of 1,000 Americans to help mark Thanks, Birth Control Day on November 13 — a day celebrating and spreading the importance of birth control. And, as the survey found, most Americans agree that birth control is integral to women's health. According to the survey, 78 percent of adults in the United States think that birth control is an essential part of women's health care — including 66 percent of Republicans and 93 percent of Democrats.
"Our polling reconfirms what we already know which is that the majority of people in the United States support broad-based access and public funding for birth control," Ginny Ehrlich, CEO of Power to Decide, tells Bustle. "However, we were surprised that the polling also revealed that nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of 18-29 year olds report being concerned that women may not be able to access the full range of birth control methods in the future because of today’s political landscape."
There was also a sense that our administration is far behind the view of the people when it comes to birth control. "Our young people are embarking on their own life journey and along the way they are trying to maximize every opportunity that provides them with the ability to live life on their own terms," Ehrlich says. "Unfortunately, this administration’s regulations and policies that limit women’s critical access to birth control are out of step with the overwhelming public sentiment."
The survey had a lot to say about our country and our support for birth control — here's what else the results showed.
1
81% Want To Make It Easier For Adult Women To Access Birth Control
The vast majority of those surveyed not only supported birth control, but supported making it easier for adult women to access birth control when they need it. It's not just about having it out there, it's about being able to get comprehensive birth control regardless of your location or income.
2
75% Support Protecting Funding For Birth Control
One of the best ways to make birth control accessible? Funding. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed supported efforts to protect funding at a local, state, and federal level to make birth control available to adult women.
3
76% Said They Would Advocate For Access To Birth Control
Not only did people support birth control, they were willing to speak up. Over three-quarters of people said they would advocate for birth control if they realized not everyone had access to all types of contraception.
4
56% Think If Birth Control Was Easier To Access, More People Would Use It
Finally, most people thought that birth control access would lead to more birth control use. More birth control should mean fewer unplanned pregnancies.
Although access to birth control and the funding that it requires seem to come constantly under threat, it's clear that the public support is there. Especially under the current administration, it's more important than ever to vocalize your support for birth control. Because even if you might have easy access to the health care you need, not everyone is so lucky.
If you want to celebrate Thanks, Birth Control Day, you can share why you love birth control with the #ThxBirthControl hashtag on social media.
