Should women have better access to contraception to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies?

Question

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/21/usa.sexeducation

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1558192/Celibacy-teaching-dropped-by-US-states.html

"In the US and abroad, the Bush administration has severely restricted women's access to contraception"

Is this right?

Answer 1

I have not noticed it, however I am able to afford birth control without the help of the government.  I am not sure how those needing assistance have been effected., but condoms are in pretty much every grocery, pharmacy and Wal Mart type store.

I think that the Bush administration may have made further restrictions on hormonal birth control, but there is no reason a person cannot pay $6 for a pack of condoms.  Sometimes people need to accept personal responsibility too.

Answer 2

Better access? Yes, absolutely.

Improving accessibility of contraceptives, especially to teenagers, would dramatically  reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.  Conservatives need to open their eyes to the fact that some teens are going to have s*x no matter how much they have been told to abstain.  Indeed, for teens with a high level of oppositional behavior, abstinence-only education actually has the reverse effect.

Answer 3

No !

Answer 4

Personally, I think they should put birth control in the water.

Answer 5

Charssc, if birth control were illegal, people would still have s*x-- they'd just use much less safe methods of contraception such as the pulling out method.

I think abstinence-only education is a horrible thing. I live in Massachusetts, thank goodness, so I don't have to deal with that BS, but I was talking with a teen from Illinois whose class had been taught abstinence-only education, and according to him they lied about the failure rates of condoms and said they caused cancer... Many teens in his class said afterwards that they would not use condoms in the future.

Abstinence-only education creates unwanted pregnancies. Ironically, those who support it are also typically opposed to abortion. The best way to prevent abortion is to make birth control and s*x education widely available.

EDIT: Yes, condoms are cheap, but not everyone can use condoms. Some men find it impossible to maintain an erection with one. Some may have a latex allergy. But animal-skin and alternative condoms are much less widely available than latex and typically cost significantly more.

A lot of people rely on hormonal methods or other, harder-to-find forms of contraception.

Answer 6

why has this question been aimed at women, I think men and boys should take more responsibility and if they are not prepaired to do this then women shoud have more balls and say no not until you take responsibility I will give you until the end of the week. And if they do not comply Dump them and do not take them back. Say what you mean girls and stick with it'

Answer 7

Contraception is the key. Countries with intensive and early public school s*x education and broad access to contraceptives have much lower rates of teen pregnancy, despite the assertions of the religious right.

Answer 8

I think there should be a wider variety of contracpetion (and no guys I'm not talking flavours!). Nearly all of contracpetion is hormone based for women, and not one of them doesn't have side effects. One of the main side effects is 'low libido'. In 40 odd years has no one thought that maybe a pill for people who want a healthy s*x live, that gives you a low s*x drive is a bit of a problem?

There are some very interesting new products in teh making, but will take many years before they are on the market: http://www.malecontraceptives.org/

From personal experience my hubby and I don't want kids, and after being on the pill for about 10 years, there's no way I'm going back on it. barrier methods aren't that good if you want to use them long term.

Although we were willing to pay, we have been declined for tubal ligation and vasectomy as we are both under 30 and have no children. I was offered a copper UID but I'm not very keen on the fact that they refused any form of anestetic and said due to me not having children, it would be very painful to insert.

So there are exciting advances in contracpetion but they like the vasectomy plug, aren't yet available in certain countries or wont be on the market at all for years to come.

EDIT: Regarding sterlilsation it's quite ironic how they refuse to do that, but will give an abortion to any teenager for free!!

Answer 9

I don't think it has all that much to do with a lack of available options.  Free and low-cost options seem to be quite readily available in at least my part of the US. . . it's more that people are choosing not to take advantage of those options.

I blame the individuals themselves rather than, say, the government.  I know. . . heaven forbid I place the blame on anyone whose own actions led to a certain outcome they hadn't really planned on.

Answer 10

I don't think contraception is the problem, although it does contribute to unwanted pregnancies I'm sure.

s*x education should be taught earlier and more frequently.

I'm sixteen and I've been in high school for over three years now and we've only had one single lesson on s*x education and that was half way through the second year.

We shouldn't underestimate children's knowledge on things like s*x, they're always picking it up from cheap television such as Big Brother and Internet sites. Magazines, television everyone is talking about how enjoyable s*x is! But unfortunately the whole meaning behind s*x is left out! Its like putting a chocolate cake in front of a child and telling her how delicious it is, she's going to want to try some!

In my opinion its up to the parents to monitor from an early age what the children have access to. That means radio shoes, television programmes, Internet and the people they interact with.

Although you can blame all this media and television at the end of the day if you keep a good eye on your children's access to things like this it shouldn't be a problem :)

Thank you!

Answer 11

In countries where there is access to contraception and abortion, the number of unplanned pregnancies is higher.

If birth control wasn't available, people would be much more careful about when they had s*x and who they had s*x with.

Answer 12

No its terrible, I have to get the pill every 6 months and once I forgot and thought it was the week later but I only realised when I went to take my pill and I had none left, I called the family planning clinic to find they were only open on Tuesdays what use is that? and they wouldn't give me any so I had to call my Dr and make an emergency appointment and she only just fitted me in, also from the family planning clinic you are only allowed to have 14 condoms a month what use is that, shouldn't they be free and unlimited?

Answer 13

Contraception should be made as easy as practically possible to obtain. There is a surplus of people in the world and any action to control further production must be beneficial to the majority of people.

Answer 14

I think the solution would be for women to be a bit less S****y.

Answer 15

No, that isn't right.

Contrary to popular belief, knowledge about s*x (I.E. s*x education) does not 'cause' earlier sexual experiences.

In many places, the state of Texas being one of them (at least a few years ago), I believe, government schools and the majority of parents only teach abstinence to their youth.

As a result they had/have some of the highest teen pregnancy and STD rates in America.

I know someone who contracted herpes, because their sexual partner didn't know that the herpes virus never actually leaves your body, even if the physical symptoms go. It is so sad that people's lives can be ruined this way. But it's their fault right? - because they weren't practicing abstinence. I don't think so.

Fact is, most people are going to experience s*x before marriage. And we have a responsibility to give them the opportunities to make their experiences as safe, as positive, and as informed as possible. Our government should reflect, if not completely share, this responsibility.

Why wouldn't we want to provide our youth with all the knowledge, advice and resources that we can?

Answer 16

Having access to contraception doesn't seem to stop women getting pregnant.  Women get pregnant in the UK all the time, and we have a very high rate of teenage pregnancy.  I am highly sceptical as to whether easy access to contraception actually makes that much of a difference.

Answer 17

Countries with better s*x education and more access to contraceptives have lower rates of unplanned pregnancy, of course.

Rather than take a chance, people take precautions!

It makes sense.

And the data gathered internationally supports this common sense approach.

Cheers :-)