In Canada, you have the right to make decisions about your body. You have the right to:

• Agree whether or not to have sexual relations
• Decide when to have sex or not
• Choose your partner
• Choose whether or not to marry, agree to the marriage
• Respect your own body and your partner’s body, to protect yourself and your partner from STI’s and HIV.
• Choose your own doctor
• Choose a birth control method that is right for you
• Receive sexual and reproductive health care services
• Receive information about sexual and reproductive health
• Decide whether or not to have children, when to have children and how many children to have

Teens: These rights apply to you as well.

• Teens have the right to access sexual health services in a confidential manner without having their parents notified.
• Teens can get prescription birth control, pregnancy or STI testing and / or an abortion without parental consent.
• Teens have the right to buy and use protection. (ie condoms)

Visiting your sexual health care provider:

• You should feel comfortable with your doctor (health care provider)
• You can have someone with you during the appointment.
• You should expect to get answers to your questions that you understand. It helps to write down questions before you see your doctor.
• Sometimes the questions asked by your doctor seem very intimate and uncomfortable, but remember yours answers are confidential.
• If you don’t share all the facts, you may not receive the best information about birth control or STI testing.
• If you have left some information out at a visit because of embarrassment or if you have other questions, you can always call them back.