What Are The Pros And Cons Of Birth Control

Birth control is a widely controversial topic among young teenage girls. While many people may think that a teenager is on birth control for sexual use, there are more advantages to it. Birth control can be used to help with a teenage girl’s menstrual cramps, acne, preventing pregnancy, and you are less likely to get ovarian and uterine cancer. Certain birth controls can also help prevent pelvic inflammatory disease, ovarian cysts and anemia. While adults see birth control as the worst thing you can give to your teen daughter, they obviously have not done their research. In 1960 the birth control pill was passed and approved by the U.S Food and Drug administration. Ever since then, the pill has been transformed into a choice of a shot every three months or everyday orally taking the pill. According to Birth
Control “A woman taking a traditional oral contraceptive will take three weeks of pills that contain a combination of progesterone and estrogen, and menstruate during the one-week period when she takes placebo pills.” (15) Depo- Provera is another option given by injection. According to youngwomenshealth.org “The Depo-Provera shot is a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone. It is given every three months to prevent pregnancy and regulate a woman’s menstrual cycle.” As birth control started to become more of commonly known drug among young girls, adults frowned upon the use. Adults thought of it as giving consent to let their young daughters consent in sexual activity, knowing that they had very little risk of getting pregnant. While the main reason for birth control is to prevent pregnancy; it can be used for unbearable menstrual cramps, acne, preventing ovarian cysts, anemia, pelvic inflammatory disease and uterine and ovarian cancer. The types of birth controls that are used just particularly for preventing pregnancies are diaphragms and copper implants. With stories from weareultraviolet.org, many girls share their experiences with using birth control for other than preventing pregnancies.
“Our daughter is prescribed a lower dosage of birth control pills to fight cervical cancer since we have the irregular gene that brings on the horrible disease.” Rosa from New York. Another catching story from weareultraviolet.org comes from Jenny in Hawaii. “I am on birth control because I suffered a pelvic injury that is worsened by menstrual symptoms. . . being on birth control minimizes the pain women normally experienced during menstrual cycles.” Reading personal stories of how birth control helped people in their lives makes your realize on how much people can benefit from using birth control other than preventing pregnancy. If birth control is being used to prevent pregnancy then there is nothing wrong with that. Imagine you daughter asking you for birth control and you tell her no. She has a boyfriend and she is sexually active and is too scared to tell you about it. She ends up pregnant and aborting it. Now you’re blaming yourself for not letting her be on it in the first
place. In Contraception and Abortion in 19th- Century America “J.J Kellogg in the 1880’s states in his book Plain Facts for Old and Young that condoms and douching were “crimes against nature similar to pederasty and sodomy.” (206) Times have far changed from saying that condoms are crimes to they are very safe forms of contraceptives. Condoms prevent from a handful of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy if used properly. Even if you are using a type of birth control, you are not being protected by any potential sexually transmitted diseases. If your parents don’t allow you to be on birth control, then please use condoms to prevent any unwanted pregnancies. In Birthcontrol, “Abortions that are second- trimester aren’t becoming harder to stomach but easier to avoid.” (41) Some people view birth control as an abortion pill. Saying that it inhibits ovulation so that way fertilization of an egg can be stopped or producing less cervical mucus so that way sperm cannot reach the uterus. Thinking of it as a back up to prevent implantation of a conceived human life in a chemically induced environment of a womb. Birth control is not at all any form of an abortion pill. According to healthywomen.org “Birth control prevents ovulation and brings up a more consistent hormone level. Without estrogen present in the body an egg cannot be released meaning no egg, no possibility of pregnancy.” Even though you are not producing any eggs, it doesn’t mean you are harming a child. A child can only become a child when the sperm meets the egg and is fertilized. So why is it a form of abortion if you’re just getting rid of your egg before it is even a living, heart beating child? A girl doesn’t start to ovulate until a year after she has started her menstrual period. So if letting your eggs go to waste, and calling it an abortion for stopping sperm to going to an egg, then are we calling all young teenage girls abortionists? At the time a young women starts her menstrual period she can take birth control to contain the menstrual cramps or to stop the production of eggs after a year has passed. An emergency contraceptive, such as Plan B, can be used in a time where there is a possibility of pregnancy within 24-72 hours after sexual activity. What Plan B does is destroys the egg before sperm can come in contact with it. Once the egg is destroyed you will have some heavy bleeding and turn into a menstrual period. This is not a form of aborting, just getting rid of your useless egg. The real difference between a birth control and an abortion pill are the chemicals within the pills and the process. With birth control it contains hormones that are already in the bodies of young men and women. Synthetic progesterone and estrogen are used to stop the production of eggs. According to Womenonwaves.org “Mifepristone, an abortion pill, contains RU 486 which is the chemical used to abort a fertilized egg.” This takes place usually during the twelfth week of pregnancy. Abortion pills cause extreme cramping, excessive amounts of blood, nausea and or vomiting, and the uterus lining where you will see the grey matter of your unborn child. There are side effects and risks to birth control. According to Global Viewpoints: Birth control “The pill can impair muscle gain and increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes and possible cervical cancer. . . more susceptible to mood disorders and bone density loss.” (96) Some other side effects that you could encounter while taking birth control are weight gain or loss, nausea, irregular menstrual cycles or none at all, headaches and sore breasts. They usually go away within the first four months. If you have blood clotting disorders, frequent migraine headaches, blood sugar problems or certain kinds of heart diseases the pill may not be for you. A shot could be more suitable for your medical needs. So maybe you’re wondering by now of how to get birth control? You can either visit a Planned Parenthood center or set up a visit with your family doctor. During your visit you will take a pregnancy test, both urine and blood, to make sure that you are not pregnant. Then they will take your blood pressure and discuss your family medical history to make sure the type of birth control you will be receiving is suitable for you. When your visit is over you will receive a prescription to purchase your birth control at either a drug store or clinic. Birth control can range anywhere from $0-$50 a month. Since birth control has been around since 1960’s there has been a lot of arguing over it. Whether it should be given to young girls or not. For sexual reasons or other medical reasons. There are different ways that it can be taken by either pill or a shot. It’s a proven fact that birth control is not an abortion pill, but a pill to prevent pregnancy. There are different steps and processes that it takes. There are emergency contraceptives that you can take in case of a pregnancy that could partake, it is not a form of abortion. Possible side effects could happen and maybe even birth control isn’t right for you. You need to sit down with a family doctor or Planned Parenthood and talk about what choices are right for you. It’s very cheap to buy birth control but, that’s a better price to pay than suffering through your life. For all of the people against birth control, it’s easier to pay $50 dollars a month to destroy a useless egg rather than to go through the $480 dollar heartbreak of an abortion. Works Cited
"Birth Control Pills | HealthyWomen." Birth Control Pills | HealthyWomen. Ed. Linda Dominguez. National Women's Health Resource Center, Inc, 9 June 2015. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
Brodie, Janet Farrell. "The "Most Fashionable" Contraceptive Devices." Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth-century America. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1994. 206. Print.
"Center for Young Women's Health." Center for Young Womens Health. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
"How to Do an Abortion with Pills (misoprostol, Cytotec)?" Women on Waves. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
Jenny. "Ultraviolet | Equality at a Higher Frequency." Ultraviolet. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
Noel, Brigitte. "Canada Does Not Prioritize Birth Control on Its Health Agenda." Birth Control. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven, 2014. 96. Print.
Rosa. "Ultraviolet | Equality at a Higher Frequency." Ultraviolet. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
Rosenthal, Beth. “Introduction." Birth Control. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2009. 15. Print
Saletan, William. "Birth Control Results in Fewer Abortions." Birth Control. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2009. 41. Print.