Effects Of Restrictive Contraceptive Legislation On Unintentional Teenage Pregnancy

The United States of America is known for many of its outlandish and outrageous statistics in comparison to other countries. Statistics regarding obesity, homicide rates, and political issues have displayed many of the nation?s weak points. However, the amount of teen pregnancy has become so excessive that it is becoming a cry for help and a statistic that is greatly standing out and can no longer be ignored. In 1999 about one million teenagers experienced a pregnancy. This rate was twice the amount in England, Wales, and Canada and nine times greater than that of the Netherlands and Japan. About 78% of these American teenage pregnancies were said to be unplanned.

Multiple factors influence the rate of teen pregnancy. Some of the most important factors influencing pregnancy rates are socioeconomic status, education, and family income. With low socioeconomic status and income, parents may not always be present in their children’s lives in order to educate them on sex. School districts, then, take on the responsibility to educate teenagers on sexual intercourse and safe practices, but some fail. Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. provided statistics showing that while many schools push abstinence-only programs, they show little to no positive impact on preventing teen pregnancies (Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (n.d.)). While abstinence may work for some, it is not realistic to believe that all teens will abide by it. Teens need a comprehensive sexual education with emphasis on safe sex practices, which is where Be Safe, Not Sorry comes into play. The comprehensive program will cover all

The article “Delaying Parenthood”, BY the Baltimore Sun, illustrates the effectiveness OF implementing improved contraceptive access on Baltimore. The city, which experienced an outbreak OF teenage pregnancy, took action and cut their teenage pregnancy rates BY more than a third. OFficials implemented more informative sex education, but most importantly, teenagers received greater access to long-term, reversible contraceptives like IUDs. The goal OF the initiative revolves around the troubling facts that children born to teenagers are more likely to grow up disadvantaged in terms OF financial status, graduation rates, and possibility OF coming into contact with the law. Health OFficials began working with the schools and Planned Parenthood to demonstrate to students the severity OF their actions and the access they have to contraceptives.

The opponents of birth control to teens overlook the fact that providing birth control to teenage girls would make sex much safer. Certainly, the unsteady rate of teenage pregnancies would decrease. In previous times, girls between the ages of 16-17 would get pregnant unintentionally. However, in this era, 13 and 14 year old girls are having babies-teens who are completely unprepared to give birth and raise a child. In these instances, if the child is not given up for adoption, the responsibility usually becomes that of the parents. In addition, when teenagers are protected from unwanted pregnancies the number of teen abortions taking place each year could be reduced significantly. According to Guttmacher.org, some states in the U.S have reported that 50 percent of pregnant teens receive an abortion. Not only is this a costly procedure, but it is also

One solution to preventing teen pregnancy would be to provide better access to birth control for teenagers. In Jacqueline Sedgwick’s article, “American Adolescents and Emergency Contraceptive Pill Access,” she argues that the American teenage pregnancy and abortion rates are higher than any other nation due to the irregular or improper usage of birth control. Many American teenagers are unaware of how to properly use the contraceptives and mistakenly find themselves in difficult situations, but with more knowledge about birth control, teens will be able to properly protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. According to the article, the federal court order the US Food and Drug Administration to make emergency contraceptive pills available to teens over the age of seventeen without a prescription (Sedgwick). Allowing easy access to birth control will enable teens to be prepared and inhibit them from unintended pregnancies that are likely

Clemmitt (2010) states that currently the most effective approach to prevent teenage pregnancy is evidence-based sex education programs. The primary debate about the best method of preventing teenage pregnancy is between abstinence-only courses and comprehensive sex education. The author says that after operating comprehensive sex education, the Obama approach, many communities and county areas have drastically reduced the rate of teenage pregnancy. Studies and statistics suggested that abstinence-only courses have not contributed to reduce teenage pregnancy rates. The author points out that the abstinence-only courses also include sexually transmitted diseases classes and discussions of unhealthy relationship and making decisions, and abstinence

Teen pregnancy and the risk of it remains a serious issue for today’s adolescents. In 2015, there were 229,715 babies born to women from the ages of 15 to 19 (Martin). Accidental teen pregnancies could be prevented if more comprehensive sex education was taught at school and birth control was more accessible and affordable for teens. Guttmacher Institute lead a study on the issue of birth control and teens. The results showed that an 8% increase in use of contraceptives related to a 42% drop in pregnant teenagers over the course of seven years (Spadafino). Even though birth control has been proven to lower the risk of unwanted pregnancies, our society still views it as a taboo topic.

One of the main reasons for high rates of teenage pregnancy in the U.S. is the continuation of ineffective abstinence based education (Bell, 2009) and not allowing teenagers to make abortion related decisions. In the U.S. Eighty two percent of the teenage pregnancy is unintended and 37 % of total unintended pregnancies result in abortion. Teenagers choose to abort babies because of shame, staying focused on career, unstable financial status to support babies and not getting emotional and economic support from parents. Twenty two percent of pregnant teenagers choose not to tell their parents (ACLU, 2001).

“Colorado’s teen birth rate fell from 37 births per 1,000 teens, ages 15-19, in 2009 to 22 births in 2013.” (Draper, 2014, para. 7) is a given fact that birth control contraception’s are changing teenage girls’ lives for the better. Birth control changes many young teenage girls’ lives for the better and should be available to all teenage girls throughout the United States. Teenage girls have a right to more programs that help educate them on birth control. Teenage girls have a right to be protected from unplanned pregnancies. Teenage girls have a right to have authority over their decisions as minority expanded. Teenage girls have a right to be comfortable with taking birth control. Teenagers should be encouraged to their rights by taking birth control.

In Texas, the parental notification and consent laws had an effect on birth and abortion rates for minors with notification laws reducing birth and abortion rate with the 16 – 17 year old females. There is a decline in teen pregnancy in the United States with ongoing attempts in the prevention through public policy and initiatives. Today about thirty-nine states

The Contraceptive CHOICE Project enrolled 9256 women in the St Louis area from 2007. The women were between the ages of 14 and 45 and were mostly young and poor. The study educated them about the full range of contraceptive options and provided whichever one they preferred. Participants were followed for three years. It found a teenage birth rate of 6.3 per 1000 among the study participants, far below the national average of 34.3 per 1000 over the same period. The number of abortions fell by 21% among all women in the study area, compared with no change in the number of abortions in the rest of Missouri (P Obstetrics and gynecology 120.6 (2012):

Risky sexual and reproductive behavior associated with teen pregnancy often leads to disadvantage personal and social conditions. Research suggests that health education, contraceptive use, access to health care and outreach programs are effective in improving health conditions and reducing risky behavior. Omissions in the research on sexual behavior other than intercourse are highlighted. Possible biological, social, and social cognitive processes underlying teenage sexual behavior are then considered. Next, demographic trends in the use of contraceptives and antecedents of regular birth control use are reviewed. Finally, some of the successful program initiatives directed toward altering sexual and contraceptive practices are discussed, keeping

We are in a world where there are many teens getting pregnant. Over the years many teenage girls have gotten pregnant, mainly because they didn’t use protection. The Colorado Health Department of Public Health and Environment had released an announcement that the state's teen birth rate had dropped 40 percent between 2009 and 2013, probably because birth control was made cheaper. This is good news because the world's population has been getting bigger and bigger, and with the economy it may not be a good thing. That is why making birth control pills legal without a prescription can drop teenage pregnancies and lessen the world’s population.

Today, sexually active teenagers can get contraceptives to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancies or sexual diseases without a parent’s permission. In some states federal lawmakers have taken away the ability for teens to protect themselves, they want to prevent sexually active teenagers from getting birth control and condoms unless they get parents permission. Preventing teens from getting contraceptives unless they tell a parent will not stop them from having sex. It will drive them away from the services they need to protect themselves, leading to higher rates of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases

"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.