Birth Control Underrated Essay

1002 Words3 Pages

Is Birth Control Underrated? From the time birth control was first introduced in the late 20th century, many different responses have stemmed from the public. Most popularly known for its names such as ‘Plan B’ or simply just ‘birth control pills’, these and multiple other options provided in today’s society. This medicine is most used to regulate women’s reproduction, and also, to help with various women’s health problems. Controversy, however, looms over this topic as this medicine can also prevent pregnancy if used within a time boundary after intercourse. Many people believe that life does begin at conception, and using such methods to prevent a pregnancy may be considered to be murder. Although, many potential problems can stem from …show more content…

Even though many teenagers are not expected to be involved in such risky behavior, many are. According to Guttmacher Institute, “70 percent of teenagers have sex before their 19th birthday” (Jester), which shows the massive participation in such activities. However, many methods of prevention, including birth control, have been in the working toward the progress in decreasing unplanned pregnancies in teenagers. Having an open environment with multiple options makes the decision about counteracting an unplanned pregnancy significantly easier. Also, some forms of birth control can be given to teenagers without parental consent (A Wake-Up Call), which ultimately leaves the important decision up to the teenager who has been involved in risky activities, not the parents. Due to the increasing access to birth control, and other methods of preventing pregnancy, statistics show that pregnancies and births among teenagers is in fact decreasing (A Wake-Up …show more content…

In recent studies, it has been proven that “teen pregnancy rates are higher in students who are given abstinence only education compared with comprehensive sex education” (Lehnardt). An innumerable amount of teenagers are going to condone to such behavior, and to ignore or disapprove of the surprising truth is only going to make matters worse. The only way to improve is to tackle the problem, therefore, the problem cannot grow out of proportion. Solutions such as increasing the access of birth control and the increase in non-bias sex education does help the situation dramatically. About 3.2 million teenage women depend on contraceptives (Lehnardt), and if those products were not as available as they are now, a multitude of teenagers would be faced with a predicament. Many parents do worry about the side effects of these contraceptives, but, “the risks, consequences and long-term effects of pregnancy for 11- to 16-year-olds far outweigh the dangers of using [birth control]” (A Wake-Up Call). An enormous amount of technicalities can potentially harm a young woman if she gives birth at a young age. If the situation could be avoided by the use of birth control, why risk the chance of the poor young woman dying over one risky action she made or was forced to do? To think if this young woman was 11 years old, and was faced with the situation of pregnancy, but was denied services due to her young age? Would the restrictions

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