Text of Article (Pg. 82):

Smart women have been try­ing to prevent unwanted pregnancies pretty much forever, though the process used to be decidedly more indelicate - can you imagine inserting a crocodile dung/honey/sodium carbonate suppository after sex, like ladies did back in Cleopatra’s Egypt? Or gulping down a post-coitus mercury cocktail, as was the preference for women in ancient China? But the actual concept of “birth control” has been around only since about 1914, when badass reformer Margaret Sanger first used the term in The Woman Rebel (a journal clearly after our own hearts). Back then, the idea of women wanting to control their bodies was revolutionary, even though many ladies died while giving birth or were stuck in poverty because they couldn’t take care of so many kids.

Luckily, we were born after 1960, when Margaret’s half-century fight finally paid off and the pill hit the market. The maternal death rate fell more than 60 percent, and then there was the whole sexual revolu­tion. Today, there are 100-plus methods of contraception being researched around the globe and, as you’ll see over the next seven jam-packed pages, dozens of safe, reliable options are readily available.

Still, since George II’s 2000 election, our reproductive freedom has once again come under attack. The federal govern­ment has thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at abstinence-only sex ed programs, despite the fact that most studies show they’re not working (one Canton, Ohio, high school just decided to switch to a more comprehensive program after 13 percent of its female students got pregnant in 2005, up 2 percent from 2004). In some states, like Missouri, legislators have voted to ban federally funded health clinics from provid­ing family-planning services (read: birth control), while other states, including Mis­sissippi and Michigan, have passed “refusal clauses,” which allow pharmacists to deny filling a woman’s prescription if they’re morally opposed to contraception. In fact, 3 percent of janemag.com poll takers say they’ve been hassled at a pharmacy.

Government funding cuts for full-service outfits like Planned Parenthood mean many clinics are run-down, with airport-security-­like lines and 9-to-5 hours (when most bosses aren’t crazy about you taking time to deal with your sex life). With major con­traception suppliers like Ortho-McNeil dras­tically increasing prices in recent years, as well as the fact that twentysomethings are the fastest-growing group without health insurance, a major chunk of our generation is opting out of birth control entirely. Not a good thing, since every year, 85 percent of women between ages 15 and 44 who don’t use birth control get pregnant.

But there are glimmers of hope. Wal-­Mart - a company not exactly known for progressive values - recently gave in to pressure to carry the morning-after pill Plan B in nearly 4,000 stores across the U.S. Meanwhile, scientists continue to work on birth control options for guys (read about them on page 89). And the biggest victory of all; This summer, the FDA finally agreed to let women over the age of 18 buy Plan B without a prescription. Now you don’t have to freak if a condom breaks on a Friday and you can’t get to the gyno until Monday.

The Women’s Liberation Birth Control Project (birthcontrolproject.org) is part of the coalition that helped make this accessibility happen, and they’re still at it - several members are suing the FDA to make Plan B available to women of all ages without a prescription. One of the plaintiffs, 26-year-old Annie Tummino, a modern-day Margaret Sanger of sorts, explains, “Women need to be able to decide when and if we want to have kids - to control our own destinies and lives.” You heard her: Turn the page and take control.

- Kara Jesella

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Text of article (Pg. 87):

No. 1: That’s right, vote
There are two kinds of people in Con­gress: the ones who think hindering access to birth control will actually stop unmarried people from having sex, and those who believe that people are going to get it on regardless, so we’d better pro­vide protection. See how your legislators rate on reproductive-freedom issues at ppaction.org/ppvotes/VotingTools.htrnl,
then tell them what you think at the polls.
Photo: Brandon Schulman

No. 2: Become an activist

Join Planned Parenthood political cam­paigns, like its photo petition against South Dakota’s pending law to ban most abortions (voters decide the bill’s fate on Nov. 7). Also, sign up for e-mails from the National Organization for Women and The Morning-After Pill Conspiracy, (mapconspiracy.org) a group that may’ve influenced the FDA’s recent Plan B/OTC decision when its members handed out emergency contraception to women without a prescription. Their new goal: to make sure Plan B doesn’t get stuck behind the pharmacy counter, where you’d have to show ID to get it.

No. 3: Talk it up

E-mail your local newspaper whenever birth control is in the news and tell them what you think of their coverage. If you’re in school, lobby your health center to pro­vide affordable birth control on campus. And call or e-mail your legislators when there are pertinent laws pending.

No. 4: Do for condoms what Eva Longoria does for sex toys

When Julienne Verdi’s Staten Island, N.Y., high school wouldn’t provide condoms without a lecture from the school nurse, Julienne went to Planned Parenthood, picked up some rubbers and Info, and started distributing. (It just takes a quick call to your nearest PP.) Now a college sophomore with the nickname “Condom Girl,” Julienne, 19, says, “All of my friends get a back-to-school goodie bag.”

No. 5: Keep a subversive stash

Buy a dose of Plan B today and hold onto it. You never know when you - or a hard-up friend - might need it.

- Jennifer Baumgardner