Pro Sex Education

Kate Norman
Mrs. Cole
Period 3
11-7-13
In today’s society, politicians have made many laws governing the how, when, and where women are allowed to get abortions. An abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often during the first 28 weeks of the pregnancy. Rather than dictating what women can do with their pregnancies, the government should focus its time and energy into educating the public about alternatives to abortion.
In 2006, a study showed that 49% of all pregnancies were unintended. This is a very high percentage and clearly it means that either the birth control/contraceptives are failing at an extremely high rate, or that the general public doesn’t know how to prevent pregnancies from happening. Although this percentage is high, another study showed that the 65% of women who use modern contraceptives only accounted for 5% of the unintended pregnancies. However, the 16% of women that didn’t use a contraceptive method accounted for 52% of unintended pregnancies. This proves that contraceptives work most of the time. So if these contraceptives work so well, why don’t more people use them? A lot of people don’t know that they’re out there, or where to get them. In Texas, the sex education program that is common among high schools is “It’s Worth the Wait”. It teaches about abstinence, not about practicing safe sex. Although teens really shouldn’t be having sex, society cannot turn a blind eye any longer, because it is happening all over the nation. If we want unintended pregnancy rates, and therefore abortion rates, to lower, then there should be more knowledge about contraceptives and alternatives. In the past decade, the federal government has spent more than $1 billion on programs like “It’s Worth the Wait” which promote abstinence as the only choice teens should make about sex before they’re married. A study recently showed that the teenagers in these ‘abstinence is key’ programs were no more likely to abstain from sexual activities than their peers who had not gone through the program were. Many teens and young adults who experience an unintended pregnancy will turn to abortion as an easy way out.
As contraceptive use goes up, abortion rates go down. At least that’s what seems logical. So wouldn’t it also be logical to say that if the government wants to prevent abortions from happening, they should invest in better sex education and increase contraceptive availability? Birth control (sometimes known as “the pill”) is not available over the counter. You require a prescription in order to have it, which is often why many women don’t use it. The birth control pill is a pill taken daily that contains hormones that change the way the body works to prevent pregnancy. The hormones that it affects are in the ovaries and the uterus. Generally, the pill prevents ovulation and therefore the person taking it can’t get pregnant. This is a great contraceptive method, but it isn’t readily available like other methods, such as condoms, can be. Some girls and women might consider getting a prescription for birth control to be embarrassing, so they choose not to get one; others might not have the financial means to continue taking it regularly. Lots of people don’t even know about the birth control pill, or how it works. If there was a law enforcing sex education programs to cover most, if not all, forms of contraceptives, abortion would be a much less severe issue. Condoms are another method of contraception that prevents pregnancy, and therefore abortion. Condoms are a ‘spur of the moment’ form of contraception, whereas birth control has to be taken regularly in order to work properly. If more people knew about condoms or had access to them, abortion rates would go down.
Another alternative to abortion that isn’t a contraceptive is adoption. Adoption is a good choice for you that doesn’t negatively affect your health, and it is a good choice for your baby. If you’re already pregnant, and don’t want an abortion, or are too far along in the pregnancy to get one, you may choose to give the baby up for adoption once it’s born. This alternative is considered much more emotional for the person experiencing the pregnancy; however that is not necessarily true. Both adoptions and abortions are an extremely emotional experience for the person making the choice. To make the experience slightly less painful, you can choose an open or closed adoption. Open adoptions are when the mother is involved with choosing the new parents of her child and perhaps even gets to see the child as it grows up. In most cases, the costs of the pregnancy are paid for by the family who is to adopt your baby. This is an alternative to abortion if you don’t necessarily want to support your baby.
Many politicians in recent years have taken it upon themselves to decide for the women of America what they can do with their pregnancies, wanted or not. Though we do need the government to make laws for our nation that protect us, this is wrong, because as a person, you should be able to have control over your own body. If we are guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of religion in the country, why do women not get to have control over their own bodies? People all across America believe that abortion is an easy way out of a pregnancy, and that it should not be used because the choices you’ve made are your own fault. If this is so, than aren’t the decisions you make after you’re pregnant your fault too? This means that with the right knowledge and prevention of pregnancy, you won’t need an abortion. Politicians and law makers should concentrate their efforts to educating the public about the many alternatives to abortion that there are, and there wouldn’t be nearly as many abortions.
If they’re well informed, people should be allowed to make their own decisions. The only way for this to happen is if the government will focus on education, not on banning abortions. Abortion should not be an easy way out, but rather a last resort of certain circumstances.

Works Cited
"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1)." n.d. http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/UnintendedPregnancy/index.htm. 21 October 2013.
Culp-Ressler, Tara. n.d. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/02/11/1568311/teen-birth-rates-plunge/. 27 October 2013.
Greenberg.
"Guttmacher Institute (3)." n.d. http://www.guttmacher.org/media/presskits/contraception-US/statsandfacts.html. 21 October 2013.
Hagy, J.
"Kids ' Health (2)." n.d. http://kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/contraception/contraception_birth.html#. 21 October 2013.
Morris, S.
"Slate Magazine (8)." n.d. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2007/04/no_more_virginal.2.html. 27 October 2013.

Cited: "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1)." n.d. http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/UnintendedPregnancy/index.htm. 21 October 2013. Culp-Ressler, Tara. n.d. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/02/11/1568311/teen-birth-rates-plunge/. 27 October 2013. Greenberg. "Guttmacher Institute (3)." n.d. http://www.guttmacher.org/media/presskits/contraception-US/statsandfacts.html. 21 October 2013. Hagy, J. "Kids ' Health (2)." n.d. http://kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/contraception/contraception_birth.html#. 21 October 2013. Morris, S. "Slate Magazine (8)." n.d. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2007/04/no_more_virginal.2.html. 27 October 2013.