Bet you didn’t know birth control had its own day. Well it does – even has its own sing-along ditty.
Bedsider hosted a second media-backed “Thanks, Birth Control Day” on Nov. 12. As a thank-you to birth control for “a lot of amazing stuff,” Bedsider asked fans to share postcards, use the hashtag “#ThxBirthControl” and watch (or sing-along to) “Thanks, Birth Control: The Song.” Planned Parenthood and the media took the order seriously.
A project of the non-profit The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Bedsider describes itself as an “online birth control support network for women 18-29.”
The organization hyped, “Birth control lets you pursue dreams, goals, travel, school, work, relationships, and more without the risk of pregnancy. It's not just about sex (although sex is rad). It's about living life on your own terms.”
In other words, its all about self-worship.
Speaking of which: As part of the social media campaign, Bedsider’s social media postcards embodied the idea of “it’s all about me:”
- “Let’s (not) make a baby”
- “So many sex positions. So much time.”
- “Affordable, accessible birth control. The sexiest way to save taxpayers billions.”
- “Doing it in every room and no plans for a nursery.”
- “My newborn keeps me up at night. Worrying about another pregnancy before I’m ready doesn’t.”
- “Healthy children. Happy parents. Stable families.”
- “We can have really loud sex without waking anyone up. (Except the neighbor that one time).”
- “More than 99% of women have used birth control. I love being in good company.”
(Make that “99% of women aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method,” because only “some 62% of all women of reproductive age are currently using a contraceptive method,” according to Guttmacher Institute.)
The Planned Parenthood Connection
While Bedsider calls itself “totally independent and the info on it is honest and unbiased,” the organization boasts a close ties with taxpayer-funded abortion giant Planned Parenthood. The two organizations even share employees.
This year, Planned Parenthood Action shared the Bedsider song and praised the campaign to push Obamacare: “Birth control can cost up to $600 per year out-of-pocket (and even more for some of the most effective long-acting forms like IUDs), and thanks to Obamacare, millions of women are now getting their prescriptions without a copay — yep, that’s right: $0.”
“Thanks, affordable birth control,” the post added.
Chiming in on social media, Planned Parenthood pushed the campaign through the organization's general and teen Twitter accounts," and the @PPACT twitter account tweeted: “Happy#ThxBirthControl day! It helps us plan our families, pursue our dreams, and control our destinies — THANKS, BIRTH CONTROL!”
The organization also participated in a Twitter chat with Bedsider and viral news site Upworthy to discuss the “ThxBirthControl Day!”
More Media Involvement
Not surprisingly, Huffington Post was super-excited, publishing “A Thank-You Note to Birth Control” by Rev. Susan Russell, an Episcopalian priest and “marriage equality” activist.
“Thank you, birth control,” Russell wrote. “For what you have done and for what you will continue to do to improve lives, to strengthen families and to support the dignity of every human being. #YouRock.”
Also writing for HuffPo, former Washington Post reporter and Pulitzer prize-winner Laura Stepp took advantage of the occasion/hashtag to recognize “A Birth Control Champion You've Probably Never Heard Of.”
“Birth control is kind of a big deal, so why not join us and give thanks for pregnancy prevention this week?” wrote MTV Act’s Claire Biggs. “99% Of Us Have A Reason To Say #ThxBirthControl.”
Marie Claire senior editor Whitney Joiner gushed about the “new holiday” for birth control. She explained:
Without it, we couldn't thoughtfully be in control of our own lives; we couldn't plan our educations, our careers, our families. We wouldn't be able to travel the world, to go after our dreams, to make serious and educated choices and decisions.
Both MTV and Marie Claire embedded the song in their posts.
The National Campaign also recognized helpers in the 2013 campaign, including MTV and MTV Tr3s, Dr. Drew, Perez Hilton, Cosmopolitan, The Huffington Post, Pivot TV, HerCampus.com, Planned Parenthood, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the International Conference on Family Planning.
So there’s a birth control song to go with the birth control flag. Who couldn’t take modern feminists seriously?
