Hard Pill to Swallow
In “It’s Time for a Birth Control Revolution” (January/February), Nicole Schmidt brings much-needed attention to the lack of options many face when it comes to finding a contraceptive method that doesn’t compromise their mental or physical health. We also can’t forget cost is often a barrier keeping people from accessing birth control, a situation that disproportionately affects lower-income people and recent immigrants. That might help explain why, in recent years, nearly half of all pregnancies in Canada were unplanned. If the federal government indeed moves forward with a proposal to include birth control in its new pharmacare plan, it will be important to read the fine print to determine exactly what methods will be covered, who will be eligible—and who could be left out. While the arrival of the birth control pill, all those decades ago, did change millions of lives, we still have a long way to go.
