--- title: Melinda Gates Fighting for Every Woman to Have Birth Control description: Find out how Melinda Gates is fighting for universal contraception access through her foundation. canonical: https://time.com/4670693/melinda-gates-birth-control-access/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-14T22:09:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:48.601Z og:title: Melinda Gates Thinks Every Woman Should Have Access to Birth Control og:description: She says it all starts with education og:url: https://time.com/4670693/melinda-gates-birth-control-access/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fd18a52978c8b40/6988ba5a8e0601cf79469349/melinda-gates-womens-march-washington.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Melinda Gates Thinks Every Woman Should Have Access to Birth Control twitter:description: She says it all starts with education twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fd18a52978c8b40/6988ba5a8e0601cf79469349/melinda-gates-womens-march-washington.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Melinda Gates Thinks Every Woman Should Have Access to Birth Control  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Feb 14, 2017 10:09 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 02: Melinda Gates attends the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards at Museum of Modern Art on November 2, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage) NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 02: Melinda Gates attends the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards at Museum of Modern Art on November 2, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage)Noam Galai—WireImage  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Feb 14, 2017 10:09 PM UTC [Melinda Gates](http://motto.time.com/4634783/melinda-gates-mlk-jr-service/?iid=sr-link2) is fighting to expand contraceptive access across the globe. The co-chair of the [Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation](http://www.gatesfoundation.org/), which recently released [its 2017 annual letter](https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter?WT.mc%5Fid=02%5F14%5F2017%5F00%5FAL2017%5FMG-Fortune%5F&WT.tsrc=MGFortune&linkId=34381906), opened up in an interview [with Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-02-14/q-a-melinda-gates-on-the-world-s-missing-data-about-women) about her work to empower girls and women. “I absolutely believe in universal access to contraceptives,” Gates said. “When you can plan and space the births of children, they are healthier, and the woman’s healthier.” On-the-ground in developing nations, Gates has been able to witness and examine the barriers that women face when trying to access contraception firsthand. “I met a woman named Sadie in Niger who said, ‘Why is it that clinic right there used to have contraceptives and they don’t anymore? Why can’t I get them? Why do I have to walk 10 kilometers in the heat to get them?'” Gates said. “On the other hand, there are women who say, ‘I might know about contraceptives, but my husband won’t let me use them.'” The philanthropist shared that the best way to solve this problem is through education — and Gates points to “self-help” groups that provide a forum for women in some of these countries to convene on health issues as one of those solutions. In the foundation’s [annual letter](https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter?WT.mc%5Fid=02%5F14%5F2017%5F00%5FAL2017%5FMG-Fortune%5F&WT.tsrc=MGFortune&linkId=34381906), she said that 75 million women are participating in these groups in India alone. “That’s what women’s empowerment is,” she said. “If you help get these groups formed and you start them with little bits of education, they eventually take it over, and boy, do they empower all the women around them. Because women talk.” \[[Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-02-14/q-a-melinda-gates-on-the-world-s-missing-data-about-women)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4670693/melinda-gates-birth-control-access/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4670693/melinda-gates-birth-control-access/"},"headline":"Melinda Gates Thinks Every Woman Should Have Access to Birth Control","datePublished":"2017-02-14T22:09:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:48.601Z","description":"She says it all starts with education","url":"https://time.com/4670693/melinda-gates-birth-control-access/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fd18a52978c8b40/6988ba5a8e0601cf79469349/melinda-gates-womens-march-washington.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fd18a52978c8b40/6988ba5a8e0601cf79469349/melinda-gates-womens-march-washington.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards","caption":"WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards","creditText":"Noam Galai—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4670693/melinda-gates-birth-control-access/","name":"Melinda Gates Thinks Every Woman Should Have Access to Birth Control"}}]}] ```