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For most women, including women who want to have children, contraception is not an option; it is a basic health care necessity.

It is essential that the women's preventive coverage benefit, including contraception, be available to all women, regardless of what health plan they have or where they work - as Congress intended. Providing access to birth control just makes good sense.

The truth is women use contraception not only as a way to prevent unintended pregnancies, but also to improve their health and the health of their families. Increased access to contraception is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality.

Contraceptive protection is something every woman must have access to, to control her own destiny.

Thanks to health reform, women across the country with private insurance can get birth control without paying out of pocket. This lets women make the health care decisions that are right for them and puts every one of us in charge of our own reproductive health.

For the record, I believe that women and their doctors should have access to oral contraception when desired by the patient and medically appropriate.

Contraception doesn't define a woman.

It pains me deeply to see members of my own party attempting to legislate women's health and contraception choices.

Thankfully, President Obama has stood firmly behind women's health care issues by supporting coverage for contraception and reaffirming commitment to organizations like Planned Parenthood.