o aren’t politically apathetic are researching and debating to decide which candidates suck significantly less than the other ones.

However, other important issues are on the ballot as well, and for those who are convinced that politicians are fundamentally corrupt and will screw us over no matter who is elected, these issues should provide inspiration to vote.

For example, one of the “statewide advisory questions” struck me in particular. “Shall any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides prescription drug coverage be required to include prescription birth control as part of that coverage?”

Looking over the sample Coles County election ballot, I came across this question and was perplexed as to why it is even something people are voting on.

We are voting on whether or not a woman can use her health insurance for something she needs for her health.

The main argument I have heard for justifying this is that using contraception goes against some people’s religious beliefs; therefore, their companies providing means for their clients to get contraception is a violation of their religious freedom.

This is unreasonable on many accounts.

You are a health insurance company. You provide insurance that people will be able to receive the medications and treatment they need to remain healthy.

You are not an eternal-salvation insurance company.

If facilitating the contraception use is the issue, then you shouldn’t pay your employees either.

Companies give their employees paychecks at the end of the week, and the employees are then free to use that money to buy a plethora of unholy things: condoms, dental dams, lube, gay porn, whips and chains, you name it.

The point is that everyone should be free to use their resources in whatever way they see fit to “pursue happiness,” as long as it harms no one else.

Health insurance is an essential resource. Limiting how women can use it is sexist and oppressive.

We are not living in a puritanical society. People have sex, as shocking as that may seem.

And while not using birth control or having sex is fine for anyone who chooses to live that way, the reality is that’s not how everyone operates.

In a country where we don’t want to provide women a paid maternity leave, shouldn’t we at least let women have some control over when they get pregnant?

I’ve never been pregnant, but I imagine it to be like having a giant parasitic tumor growing inside of you and slowly sucking out all of your resources, all the while it waits to permanently rip your body apart, after which you will never quite be the same—not to mention the societal shame and unwanted belly rubbing.

Can’t I decide when I want that to happen to me?

Many women do not have the financial means to afford birth control without insurance, and having a child is no value meal either.

Preventing pregnancy is not even the only reason women take birth control. The medication can also be used to relieve menstrual cramps, clear up acne, lower the risk for ovarian cancer, relieve symptoms of polycystic ovarian cancer, and so on.

I just hope enough people take this issue seriously enough to fill out a ballot, no matter how they feel on the issue, and our voices are taken seriously.

Stephanie Markham is a junior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].