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Birth Control Over The Counter Essay

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For over 50 years birth control has been available to women but only through prescription. There are many women that don’t have health insurance, aren’t able to go to a clinic, or are too young and don’t have parental permission, hindering those who want to receive a prescription for birth control. Most people can easily access male/female condoms at nearly any local store. You can even purchase a “morning after” pill, known as Plan B, without a prescription. So why not sell oral contraceptives to women over the counter? Selling birth control over the counter can better help provide many health benefits for women, decrease teen pregnancy and abortion rates, and even save taxpayers money.
Although selling birth control over the counter has major and long-term benefits, it can also be harmful. Without the need for a prescription, women lose the ability to properly learn how the usage of birth control can affect their body. There are many women that have little to no knowledge when it comes to the side effects of taking birth control and that the side effects vary with every body. For instance, taking birth control can increase the chances of developing blood clots by three to four times. With that being said, there are side effects to just about every …show more content…

In fact, many women take birth control specifically for these other benefits. A few minor benefits may include: clearing up acne, regulating periods and helping with hot flashes or night sweats. Lowering cancer risks and helping ease polycystic ovarian syndrome (POS is a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges) are only two of the several bigger impacts birth control can have on the female body. “In 2011, the Guttmacher Institute estimated that 1.5 million women use birth control to help with medical issues such as ovarian cancer, ovarian cysts, endometriosis and endometrial cancer”

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