* If you happen to be female.

One of the more controversial provisions of Obamacare is that health insurance plans must cover birth control for women.  Why is it controversial?  Well, because it violates a company’s right to freedom of religion.  That is a silly concept in so many ways that it deserves its own post so I’ll leave it for later.

What I want to spread is some good news.  The birth control mandate took effect at the beginning of 2013.  Prior to 2013, only 15% of women with private insurance were getting free birth control pills.  By the spring of 2013, that number was up to 40%.  The numbers for the ring were even more impressive.  Prior to the mandate, 23% were getting the ring for free.  That jumped to 52% by spring.  This is amazing.

With millions more women currently signing up on the exchanges, that number is likely to skyrocket when the statistics for 2014 come out.  In many cases, these will be women who could not afford birth control previously and now will be able to.  I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say that this expansion of birth control coverage will lead to a marked decrease in the abortion rate in the United States.  And that’s great news everyone can get behind!