To Anyone Who Doesn't Believe Birth Control Has Health Benefits

birth control benefits

Yes, idiots do exist.

Don’t believe us? Just check Twitter. There, you’ll find plenty of men who truly don’t believe that birth control has any health benefits, and thus should not be covered by healthcare.

This logic is false for many reasons and we could go on and on about how the pill helps with cramps, anemia, infections, and more. But that’s not what this is about.

No, this time we’re talking about the benefits of the IUD mainly that it can prevent cervical cancer. Yes, you read that right. IUDs may prevent cancer!

According to LiveScience, a new study published in the Obstetrics & Gynecology found that the rate of cervical cancer was one-third lower in women who had IUDs implanted. Of course, these findings are very early on, and the researchers want to do further studies in order to announce conclusive findings.

And they still don’t know precisely why this pattern has occurred, but they do have a few theories.

The author of the study Victoria Cortessis told LiveScience,

“When an IUD is inserted, it triggers an immune response in the body that could ‘kick out’ an HPV infection.”

So cool! Another theory had to do with the “long-term immune response.”

“The immune system reacts over time to the foreign body of the IUD, and this immune response could also target the HPV.”

So next time some dude tries to claim that there are no health reasons for healthcare to cover birth control, just point them to this study. BOOM!

Lena Finkel
Lena Finkel is the Editor and Founder of Femestella and The Feminist Health Source. Prior to starting Femestella, she worked at People, InStyle, Tiger Beat, and Sesame Workshop (aka Sesame Street). She loves all things Real Housewives and The Challenge. When she's not busy binge-watching TV, you can find her taking an absurd amount of photos of her tuxedo cat Tom.