Should Emergency Contraceptive be Made Available to Teens?
Emergency contraception, also known as the morning after pill, is one alternative to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. The morning after pill is only available by prescription and or over the counter (with proof of being 18 years or older). In 2006, the purchase age for the morning after pill was lowered to17. In the United States, there is an average of 1 million teen pregnancy reported every year. Of those 1 million girls, 38% of which depend on abortion as an alternative. Teenage girls age 13-16 are more like to result to abortion, since their access to obtain the morning after pill is less likely because of their age. It is known that most teens are private and keep lots of information about themselves from their parents. The Morning after pill has to be taken within the first 72 hours of unprotected sex to be effective. With that being said, a young teen girl (who has had unprotected sex) would have to openly tell her parents about a mistake she made just days before it happening in order for her parent to go to the drug store to purchase the emergency contraceptive. This option leaves younger teens with fewer resources to turn too. With the younger generation growing so quickly and becoming more and more aware about life, it can be difficult to think that some teens are not going to have sex. Emergency contraceptive should be available to everyone, so that everyone is given the same opportunity for
Teenagers will still be able to choose whether or not they want to protect themselves from pregnancy if their parents are not there for them. In the other hand some individuals think that having birth control available over the counter will cause individuals to have more sex and some women are not responsible enough to take the pill everyday at the same time. Some may argue that providing birth control over the counter can cause woman and teenage girls to have more sex than they were before and sime may question if women are responsible enough, it should be sold over the counter because it will reduce the number of abortions and pregnancies by allowing these women to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies.
Teens should be allowed to purchase birth control without parental consent because many parents agree that their child is mature to make the decision on their own. The author of “Contrceptive should be available to teens without parental consent claims that birth control is a freedom of fundamental human rights.” If teens are making the decision to have sex without parental consent birth control should be the same when it comes to protecting themselves against pregnancy and other life changing decisions. Furthermore, many teens are not open when it comes to talking to their parents about sex not to mention birth control. Birth control should be attained without parental consent unless the individual decides if her parents should be involved.
As of recently, the approval of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, for the use of girls as young as fifteen years old has stirred up quite some controversy (Belluck, 2013). Those who oppose it cite the diminishing moral values that this would impose on an already increasingly secular society. These individuals believe that having access to such a powerful substance would encourage young girls to engage in sexual promiscuity without any fear of repercussion (Belluck, 2013). However, proponents of this new law argue that giving full access to fifteen year old girls would discourage them from becoming pregnant at such an early age and gives them the opportunity to make wise decisions about their bodies. Aside from the two strongly opposing sides to this dilemma, the actual nature of the dilemma stems from the ease with which these young girls would be able to access the emergency contraceptive drug. Before the new law came into place, the emergency contraceptive was only available through the prescription of a doctor and could only be accessed through a pharmacist (Aleccia, 2013). With the new law, anyone fifteen or older would be able to access and purchase the drug over-the-counter. Granting such access to girls who may at times not be fully aware of the consequences of their actions is the nature of the dilemma.
If the government banned the Plan B pill what will teens do if they do not want the baby or if they are too young? Banning Plan B pills is a issue because it can cause the pregnancy rate to increase because teenagers will not have an emergency contraception close by. This is also an issue because most teens are not brave enough to confess to their parents that they are pregnant. Anti Abortion activist think this short-sighted decision can lead to more unprotected sex and lower the number of sexually active teens who actually discuss this with their parents or doctors. Recent statistics show that in 2015, teen pregnancy in the United States had a total of 229,715 babies born to women the age of 15-19. In order to prevent unwanted pregnancies
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.
Plan B One-Step, also known as the morning-after pill, is currently available to all females of any age without a pharmacist’s approval. However, this has not always been the case. It used to be that females could not obtain the contraceptive if they were under the age of 17 and it was only available over-the-counter with valid identification. Many people still believe in those restriction, including the current president of the United States. On December 8, 2011 Barak Obama presented interesting points in an interview on Plan B about the safety for girls regarding the pill. Plan B stops the release of an egg from the ovary. It also may prevent a sperm from fertilizing the egg. If fertilization has already occurred, Plan B prevents the fertilized
Last Tuesday, advisors to the Food and Drug administration voted to make the "morning-after" pill available over-the-counter (1). The FDA has not yet acted on this recommendation (1). The morning-after pill is the vernacular term for emergency contraception, specifically, two pills with the commercial name, "Plan B", which have the ability to inhibit and, depending on one's perspective, possibly to terminate unwanted pregnancies. The FDA approved the first version of the morning-after pill for prescription use in 1998 (1). The issue today is whether it should be available without a prescription.
Unintended pregnancy continues to be a growing controversy in the United States. There are many women and female adolescents that are faced with unintended pregnancies. Many have to decide whether to continue with their pregnancy or end their pregnancy. The most common method used to end an unintended pregnancy is by an abortion. However, many women and especially adolescents are not aware of an alternative method used to prevent an unintended pregnancy called Emergency Contraception (EC). This paper will explore unintended pregnancy, EC, pro-emergency contraception and anti-emergency contraception opinions. There are many women of childbearing age that have become pregnant unintentionally in the United States. As a result, many have
Teen girls between the ages of 15 and 18 should be able to receive birth control and contraceptive without the consent of their parents because most believe that’s a good mature age. Birth control is a crucial factor in preventing pregnancies. Birth control motivates young females to be responsible and have knowledge about their sexual health and also have control on their general health. After interviewing
The morning-after pill being sold over the counter to people under 17 poses many advantages. The pill should be sold over the counter because it can stop unwanted pregnancies, prevent future abortions, and can give privacy.
Seven hundred fifty thousand teenagers, ages fifteen to nineteen, become pregnant each year (“Facts”). Teenage birth specialists have often debated whether or not teenagers should have access to birth control and other contraceptives. Although some people think teenagers having birth control will promote promiscuity, birth control should be accessible to teens because they will put themselves at a higher risk for disease and pregnancy without it, and more teenage girls would get a high school diploma with it.
The Journal of American Medical Association reports that roughly 1 in 5 teenagers would have unsafe sex if they had to notify parents when getting birth control (“Birth Control” 144). Think back to when you were young and the choices that you made. I, through personal experience, have to agree with this statement. I was 17 when I became a patient at Family Planning. They encouraged me to talk to my parents but, I was not forced to. I was able to obtain birth control for free and education from a nurse that helped me to make a decision that
" More than one in five sexually active girls have used the morning after pill, a significant rise from a decade ago, when only one in ten girls used the emergency contraception." according to a report released on 22of July. Many girls under 17 have unprotected sex, then they have to get the morning after pill. Most of the time the pill is sold over the counter to the girls under 17. Many of times it is sold without a prescription from a doctor. Plan b shouldn't be sold over the counter to girls under 17 because a doctor didn't prescribe the pill to them, teenagers that age are not emotionally ready for that decision, and they have no knowledge of what the pill is or does.
True there are safe birth controls out there, but not one is totally one hundred percent effective. And no matter how hard people try society is never going to except teen mothers. There are still teens today that are not using a form of birth control. They are too afraid to bring this subject up with their parents and this can result in unsafe sex. Due to this there are many teens that become pregnant and chooses not to tell their parents. They feel their parents will look down upon them, because that is how society sees young mothers. So they decide to fix this problem, the only way they know how, by getting an abortion. As of now, a teenager still has the
The morning after pill needs to be available to females of all ages. It can help teenagers to avoid pregnancy at such a young age. “High Teen Pregnancies Blamed on Contraceptives” pointed out that, “Teen pregnancies are high due to low availability and accessibility to contraceptives or more,” (Nakabugo). Population rates would decrease if contraceptives were available to all women because it would have prevented any babies. With more accessibility and less restriction, teen pregnancies would plummet as will population. In “A Bitter Pill, Contraceptives in Egypt” they elaborated about how, “Hassan turned to the black market to get birth control, until those disappeared,” (A Bitter Pill, Contraceptives in Egypt). Hassan looked everywhere in her town for birth control and ceased to find any. Even the black market didn’t have any, suspicious? When contraceptives are made available and accessible to everywhere and everyone, then population and pregnancy rates will lower a lot.