What are My Rights as a Patient?
It is your right to decide if and when to use birth control.
Unfortunately, research has shown that this right is not always upheld by doctors and health care providers (Swan et al., 2025).
Many patients have felt pressured by their doctor to use birth control.
For example, patients have reported feeling pressured, pushed into, or “talked into” using the IUD by their doctor.
Patients have also asked to have their IUDs or birth control implants removed (these methods are reversible) but they were turned down, dismissed, or ignored by their doctors.
These are all examples of birth control coercion (being forced or feeling forced to use birth control).
This is not acceptable.
Research also shows that people from Black and Brown communities (and others that historically have been treated unfairly in health care), are more likely to experience pressure or coercion when it comes to birth control. This reflects larger patterns of bias and unequal care in the health system.
While not everyone will experience birth control coercion, it’s important to recognize it. To learn more, please see our Inequities in Birth Control and Reproductive Care page.
No matter who you are, you deserve respectful care and autonomy to make decisions about your health.
What You Deserve and Should Expect
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to birth control after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Everyone’s health, cancer treatment, family planning goals, and birth control needs are different.
Whether you’re trying to prevent pregnancy during treatment, thinking ahead to future family planning, or just want clarity on your options, your voice matters and your preferences should be respected.
That’s why it’s essential that you and your health care provider work together to make the best choice for YOU.
When you talk to your health care provider about birth control, you should expect to:
- Be given enough information to make the best decision about birth control for you (the pros and cons of each method)
- Feel respected as a person
- Feel comfortable sharing what matters most to you about birth control
- Feel that your birth control preferences are taken seriously by your health care provider
A Realistic Note
Not all health care providers feel fully prepared to talk about birth control for people with a history of breast cancer.
Some may not bring it up, and others may seem rushed or unsure.
Often, there is so much going on with cancer treatment, that birth control just doesn’t get addressed right away (or ever).
That doesn’t mean the topic is not important or that you should not ask.
We recognize that access to birth control information is not the same for everyone.
If you want to seek another opinion about birth control, here is a link to Find Birth Control Provider near you.