Birth Control Pills and Legal Rape

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Now that both the US and Canada have made the morning after pill legal and available without a prescription it is time to continue down the path and end the legalized assault of women who choose to use the birth control pill.  Many people are concerned that the morning after pill will now become a regular form of birth control for some women (men of course not being responsible for birth control decisions; but that is a whole other post).  It may become a form of regular birth control, particularly for those who do not have sex very often; this is dangerous and should be discouraged.  However, for some this may be their only choice, because access to birth control pills is strictly controlled.

To get a prescription for birth control pills, at least here in Canada (Ontario), but also true elsewhere you must consent to a PAP test, often as frequently as every 12 months.  Forcing a woman to consent to have her vagina penetrated with a foreign object, the speculum is sexual assault. Sexual Assault is generally defined as:  

Sexual Assault is generally defined as:

Sexual Assault

• Any form of sexual contact without voluntary consent (Adapted from the Criminal Code of Canada, Sec.270).
• Kissing, fondling, sexual intercourse, anal intercourse, and oral sex are all examples of sexual assault if they are done without voluntary consent.
  Consent obtained through pressure, coercion, force, or threats of force is not voluntary consent. [1] 

Also:

Sexual penetration of any orifice of the victim's body by a body part or object, achieved through force, threat of force or coercion>[2]

Although the law varies by country and often by state or province; coercion or force negates consent.  While some women would consent to the PAP test without coercion or force it is there whether the woman chooses to acknowledge it or not.  The threat is that of an unintended pregnancy, or in worse cases continued good health as the birth control pill is used to treat certain medical conditions.  Some would argue that there are other means to prevent pregnancy and this is true, however some women choose not to or are unable to use barrier methods(condoms, diaphragms, cervical caps) and chemical methods (spermicide).  Women are also entitled to make their own medical decisions free from coercion and without the bias of medical practitioners and pharmacists.

An allergy to spermicide also eliminates many barrier methods as they depend on the combination of spermicide and the barrier.  An allergy to latex also makes barrier methods hard to use.  Non latex condoms are expensive and less effective[3].  In addition to all of that diaphragms and cervical caps are less effective if you have previously given birth[4].  Not to mention that using chemical methods (such as sponges, gels, films) require knowing you are going to have intercourse ahead of time (good luck if you have kids).  Also some couples would like the closeness of not using a condom without the risk of pregnancy.

Using diaphragms and cervical caps (except the Lea’s Shield) also requires fitting by a health professional which required consent which woman may be unwilling or unable to give (for religious reasons).

Though the birth control pill is not without its risks such as an increased risk of dangerous blood clots, osteoporosis, and even death; it is a woman’s right to weigh the benefits and risks, in consultation with a knowledgeable and unbiased professional and choose for herself.  This decision should not also rest on her willingness to have a PAP test, which may or may not be an important test that all women should have (see Cervical Specific Antigen and Anti-Malignin Antibody. 

We must empower women to make their own medical decisions and end legal rape.





   

[1] http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/SAC/nav01.cfm?nav01=23613&

[2] http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/sexual_assault/saar.htm

[3] http://www.contraceptiononline.org/slides/slide01.cfm?q=std&dpg=10

[4] http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/postpartumsex/1375288.html#cap