The fact that 98 percent of women in [the U.S.] who are sexually experienced say they use birth control doesn't make sex any less sacred. It just means that they're getting to make choices about their lives.

Gates contrasts two ideas often treated as opposites: sexual “sacredness” and contraception. The quote argues that widespread birth-control use does not cheapen intimacy; rather, it reflects women’s agency—being able to decide if and when to have children, and to shape education, work, and family life accordingly. Implicitly, it reframes contraception as a moral and social good tied to dignity and self-determination, not merely a medical intervention. The statistic functions rhetorically to normalize contraception in the U.S. and to challenge stigma by showing that many women integrate faith, values, and responsible planning without seeing a contradiction.