November 13 is Bedsider and Power to Decide’s day to turn up the volume, turn down the controversy, and say “Thanks, birth control!”

From all of us here at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, here is our thank you letter to birth control:

Dear birth control,

Thank you for helping teens avoid unwanted pregnancy and focus on their goals, such as graduating from high school and going to college.

Thank you for allowing young people to take charge of their sexual health and feel in control of their own bodies.

Thank you for easing the painful cramps that regularly keep young people from attending school. Because of you, teens can feel healthy all month long.

Thank you for helping young people regulate their cycles and predict when they’ll get their period every month.

Thank you for giving teens options — from the pill, to the shot, to the implant, to the IUD, there are enough choices that most all of our teens can find a method that works for them.

Thank you for helping treat the intense pain of endometriosis, which, without intervention, can even cause infertility.

Thank you for helping treat PCOS, which, if left unattended, can lead to infertility, diabetes, and even endometrial cancer.

Thank you for helping teens control their acne and feel confident about their bodies.

Thank you for reducing the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer for our teens down the line.

Thank you, birth control, for reducing the rate of unplanned pregnancies, and helping people plan when and if they become parents.

With love,

The Staff at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center

 

Image from bedsider.org

The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center is located in New York City. It provides comprehensive, confidential, judgment free health care at no charge to over 10,000 young people every year. This column is not intended to provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual, only general information for education purposes only.