Today is national “Thanks, Birth Control” Day: Let’s say #ThxBirthControl!
Today and all this week, HelloGiggles is teaming up with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy to celebrate birth control and all the things it means to our lives.
Yes, you read that right: we’re celebrating birth control! The vast majority of sexually active adults have used some form of contraception in their lives, and we want to add our voices to the conversation and help turn birth control into a topic that’s super easy to talk about openly and honestly. (Because how many times have you been embarrassed to buy condoms?) Easier access to birth control benefits everyone, especially women, so today we’re taking a stand and voicing our support.
Birth control (and better family planning in general) leads to more educational and economic opportunities for women, more stable families, and healthier babies. We’re (obviously) all for a woman’s right to prevent unwanted pregnancies, but we’re also all for her right to plan and space out her pregnancies according to if and/or when she’s ready to have kids. Birth control can help make that happen — and that’s awesome!
While the majority of people (Democrats and Republicans alike!) agree that using birth control is the responsible route for sexually active adults who are not looking to make babies, birth control options are rarely discussed—even though research shows more teens and young adults would use it if they were more informed about their options, the benefits of using it, and if they felt it was easier to talk about with their partners.
So today we’re donning our t-shirts from the National Campaign, tweeting #ThxBirthControl, and celebrating the freedoms and liberties that safe, affordable birth control has brought into our lives. We want you to join the conversation, too! Check out the awesome video below for more information, and feel free to tweet at us or Instagram us @HelloGiggles with why you’re grateful for birth control, using the hashtag #ThxBirthControl. If you want to help spread the word, Bedsider.org has even made some adorably awesome postcards for the occasion (and trust, they’re kind of amazing), which you can download here. Sex is a totally normal part of life, so let’s practice it safely and responsibly, Gigglers, and end the stigma about birth control!
( Images via Bedsider.org and HelloGiggles.)
