ENG 101
Mrs. Johnson
20 November 2012
Teens Getting Birth Control Without Parental Consent Currently Teenagers are trying to grow up too quickly. They want to be just like the TV characters they idolize and will change themselves to do so. There are shows on TV like “16 and pregnant” that basically insinuate; if you have sex and get pregnant then you will get paid to be on television. Most teens do not go to their parents for birth control because they are afraid. In general teenagers do not want their parents knowing they are having sex. Having access to birth control, with or without the parents permission, can be a touchy subject. With this point, getting birth control without parental consent is a debatable topic. In my opinion I think you shouldn’t be able to get birth control, unless you have your parent or legal guardian there. In the United States, each state varies whether or not minors may get contraceptive prescriptions from a health care professional. “Twenty-one states explicitly allow all minors to consent to contraceptive services without parental permission.” (Minors Access to Contraceptive Services) In Arizona currently, the law states that there are no restrictions on minors, on whether or not a parent has to be involved with contraceptive use. Planned Parenthood is an agency that protects your identity. Some good things about Planned Parenthood are that, you do not have to have health insurance to be treated. By law they are not allowed to give out names, or the reason you were seen to anyone. That is why most people go to Planned Parenthood. One down side is that it can be a little pricier because most patients do not have health insurance. Another would be that they don’t necessarily care which type of birth control you are getting because they are getting paid regardless, if it makes you sick or not. There are many different methods of birth control. The most obvious is abstinence; this protects against all