Plenty of women who’ve never had sex are on it, because of things like this:

Courtney Everette has been on birth control since she was 17. Did it help prevent unwanted pregnancies? Probably. But the reason this Chicago mom has maintained a regimen of estrogen-based hormonal contraceptives for nearly 20 years has more to do with a desire to walk upright without doubling over in pain – and a hope to preserve her fertility.

Everette has endometriosis, a painful condition in which the uterus essentially grows out of bounds, invading spaces of the body where it doesn’t belong, causing severe pain and often infertility. Unless, that is, it’s treated – quite successfully – with hormonal birth control.

Because she has been using hormonal contraceptives, Everette has avoided surgery. Because of these important drugs, she has delivered two children without complications. And, yes, she is able to afford this care through her husband’s insurance plan, one that adheres to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate.

I had two surgeries for fibroids and endometriosis prior to getting pregnant with Kick, and neither had been a problem for me at all before I went off the pill. Afterward? Deblitating pain, anemia so severe I wound up in the hospital, and major surgery to scrape it all out. Fun! So every time some wingnut yobbing off about his religious freedom tells women to just not have sex and they won’t need birth control, I pretty much want him kneed in the nuts every hour of every day for a week every month. See how productive he is at work and life with that going on.

A.