Bustle: Why We Need to Talk More about how Birth Control affects our Lives
November 15 is Thanks, Birth Control Day, a day to celebrate the advances birth control has made and a day to remind everyone how important birth control is. In 1972, the Supreme Court made birth control available for all women, and November 15 is a day to continue fighting for affordable and accessible birth control for all women.
Today is the fifth annual Thanks, Birth Control Day! It is a day that The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (The National Campaign) invites you to join the conversation about all that birth control makes possible for women, men, families, and our nation. Thanks, Birth Control Day is meant to remind every one of what we all know deep down — birth control is a big deal. It makes so much possible for so many people and it deserves to have all the positive attention imaginable, not just today, but every day.
Personally, I can’t help but reflect on my role as a woman CEO. Leading this organization for the past two years have given me the opportunity to consider how important it is to be working in a field that empowers and activates the next generation of women leaders, change-makers, and mothers. All of our work at The National Campaign helps to ensure that all young women — no matter who they are or where they live — have the power to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant.
It’s no secret that the one thing that has unquestionably most revolutionized our reproductive autonomy is birth control. In 1972, the Supreme Court made birth control legal for all women — regardless of age or marital status, and since that time, it has been a game-changer for women, children and society. Studies show that the availability of birth control contributed to 30 percent of the wage gains made by women between the 1960s and the 1990s. Before 1972, there were no female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Today, there are more than 30. In 1970, only eight percent of women were college graduates, and now that number has more than quadrupled, with 33 percent of women graduating from college.
