|  Recently
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they
were going to consider making Birth Control Pills available
over the counter to teenagers 16 and older. I went up and
down 125th Street getting people’s opinions on this
issue. This issue/question is an important one because at
this time only a doctor can prescribe birth control pills.
This limits access to birth control. The result is that
teens are getting pregnant with babies they know they can’t
take care of. The babies born are usually victims of adoption,
bad living conditions, and sometimes they are even abandoned
by their mothers. I interviewed men, women, and teenagers
to get their opinions-because they will be the ones affected
if this goes into effect and because this is their neighborhood
and they should have a say on the things they think are
needed.
To my shock, after interviewing 50 people the majority of
the people feel that birth control pills should be sold
over the counter. There were 66% who said yes and 34% who
said no. What came, as a surprise though was the responses
I received when I asked why they felt this way?
The majority of people who said, “yes” felt
that teenagers should enjoy themselves without worrying
about the danger of having a child. Others felt that it
would be easier to get their hands on birth control pills
and if the teenagers have taken time to check themselves
out, why not give them easy access? In addition, one lady
commented, “Yes, it should be given over the counter
because young girls shouldn’t be getting pregnant.”
One man said, “If they’re old enough to have
sex they are old enough to take birth control pills.”
A lot of the people agreed that these teens, too, need protection.
Then there are the 34% of people interviewed who felt that
teenagers should go talk to their parents if they want birth
control pills. These people had different views on why they
said no. Most agreed that teens shouldn’t be having
sex. They say that selling birth control pills over the
counter only encourages teenagers to have sex at a young
age. Others felt that teenage girls are too young to be
on birth control pills and if they just practice safe sex
there would be no need for birth control pills. One man
said “No, because it promotes sex before marriage.
Also, this encourages teenagers to be more promiscuous and
therefore, they have a better chance of contracting a sexually
transmitted disease.” There are also fears that over
the counter drugs are mostly expired and are rarely checked
to make sure they are safe. There are many reasons on why
people say yes or no, these are just a few.
One thing all these responses have in common is that teenagers
are having sex not realizing the effects of their actions.
They do not think they will get pregnant or get a sexually
transmitted disease. Whether you feel birth control pills
should be sold over the counter or not, what is the next
step? How do we make kids see how serious having sex is?
There are steps that parents can take to help their teenagers.
Talk to them about sex and the consequences of it. Do not
wait for them to come to you. Help them to see that abstinence
is the best thing. But if they are going to have sex make
them aware of what can happen and the consequences of it
even if they practice safe sex. They could get pregnant
or get a sexually transmitted disease. Teach them to practice
safe sex. This means using a condom and knowing your partner
or going to the doctor to get birth control pills.
According to the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Population
Information Program, more than 100 million women worldwide
and 18 million U.S. women rely on birth control pills (BCPs)
today. In the U.S. alone, about 40 different products are
available.
|
