The Importance Of Birth Control

Improved Essays
Ervin Colston
Anthony Daniels
English 120
April 29, 2016

The Importance of Birth Control
[1]

Since the time ancient man began participating in sexual intercourse, forms of birth control have existed for the prime purpose of preventing the conception of children. The earliest forms of birth control had varying results of effectiveness. Some birth control methods were toxic, some forms of birth control dealt with abortion and infanticide, while other simply did not work [2]. In the present, however, we have developed an even more effective and safer forms of birth control, yet many young Americans have trouble accessing birth control, or they have misconceptions about their use. Due to this, there are many unplanned pregnancies, as high
…show more content…
The historical condemnation of contraceptives by religious communities can be cited as the reason why many religious couples choose to teach abstinence. Many religiously motivated abstinence programs often omit information on how to have safe sex, or they contain untrue medical statements. Schools that have an abstinence-only sexual education program have higher rates of teenage pregnancy and higher rates of STD rates[3]. Abstinence is however effective when it is paired with contraception and disease prevention education. One objection to contraceptive use is the argument that giving out contraceptives will lead to higher sexual activity in youths. This argument is however unfounded, as sexual activity rates stay the same whether or not you are taught about contraceptive use[4]. Due to outside interferences, many teenagers or young adults do not know how to have safe sex. Even though sexual education has been improved over the years, many young people still do not receive this …show more content…
MLA Works Cited

[1] 1HS345Blog2Picture. Digital image. Blogspot, 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. .

[2] Cheung, Iva. "10 Ancient Methods of Birth Control - Listverse." Listverse. N.p., 13 Nov. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. .

[3] Ott, MA; Santelli, JS (Oct 2007). "Abstinence and abstinence-only education".

[4] Loughrey, Bernadette. "Condoms Do Not Promote Sex in Schools - Study." › News in Science (ABC Science). N.p., 29 May 2003. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. .

[5] "Favor Sex Education in Public Schools." Pew Research Center RSS. Pew Research Center, 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. .

[6] "Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2006. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. .

[7] Culp-Ressler, Tara. "82 Percent Of Catholics Say Birth Control Is ‘Morally Acceptable’ Despite Catholic I nstitutions’ Crusade Against It."ThinkProgress RSS. ThinkProgress, 23 May 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    As casual and premarital sex has become socially acceptable today, birth control has become an essential practice in our society, and the demand and the need for birth control is only rising. A birth control pill is the most commonly used contraceptive method in the United States today. What makes a birth control pill outstanding among all contraceptive methods is its failure rate; less than 1 out of 100 women will get pregnant each year if used properly. It is the lowest failure rate among all contraceptive methods besides sterilization. With its effectiveness and convenience, a birth control pill has won its popularity over the past few decades.…

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Funding Planned Parenthood Some people are trying to shut down an organization that’s helped many women. They have taught young children and teens about their bodies and the changes from childhood to adulthood. They have taught people about safe sex and using protection against Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) or unwanted pregnancy. They have taught people about abusive relationships and the spectrum of sexuality.…

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the 1960’s, premarital sex has been on the rise in America, starting from a place where it was considered taboo by many to have sex out of wedlock. By societies standards today, marrying a virgin is almost unbelievable considering 95% of Americans are engaging in premarital sex. A considerable amount of this percent are the teenagers. It is well known that many teens in America are sexually active. There are numerous forms of birth control, temporary and long term.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Birth Control Pill

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The birth control pill, or “the pill”, is an oral contraceptive prescribed as medication and taken once every day. The birth control pill was made legal in the 1970s and also made available to teenage girls. It was and still is used by numerous amounts of women starting at as early as age 15. This was the holy grail of the century, because there was a new way to prevent pregnancies. Although female contraception lowers teen pregnancy rates, teens under the age of 18 shouldn’t be having sex that often to where they need a stronger, more long term form of birth control.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although there are arguments that censored abstinence-only education is beneficial, The National Abstinence Association believes that all youth-serving organizations should give accurate information about pregnancy prevention and sexually transmitted diseases. This shows that if these guidelines are followed, abstinence education is factually correct, yet often times this is not true. Even though the National Abstinence Association supports factual information, often times it is not used in abstinence education classes. A second argument in favor of abstinence education is from Linda Lowen’s 2014 article on the pros and cons of abstinence education, she writes, “Abstinence from sex is the only form of pregnancy prevention that is 100% effective. Every method of contraception has a risk of failure however small, but a teen who practices abstinence will never become pregnant”.…

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For many women in today’s society, having a child when the timing is not right is not exactly ideal. For those particular women, there are many options to prevent and terminate pregnancy. Modern contraceptive methods have been available for decades now, thanks to Margret Singer and Katherine McCormick, the inventors of the oral contraceptive pill. Not only that, but due to the breakthrough of the birth control pill, methods have been opened to implantable devices, barrier and hormonal methods, and emergency contraction rather than relying on practicing abstinence, withdrawal, and natural family planning. Though there are negative side effects to many methods that some people seem to focus on, birth control is still a great idea for those wishing…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “There is, perhaps, one invention that historians a thousand years in the future will look back on and say, ‘That defined the 20th century’…That invention is the contraceptive pill” (Sonfield, Hasstedt, Gold 2015). Widely used by more than 60% of US women and accepted by most of the world’s religions, birth control, and access to it, is still a hot-button topic. Extensive research has been conducted studying the effects of birth control across many fields, and the results all seem to agree. Recent research seems to have shown that access to affordable birth control is directly tied to positive effects for the individual, the child, and the economy as a whole.…

    • 1689 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Arguably the leading cause of countless failed marriages, children born out of wedlock, and broken relationships, contraception has been a leading issue in the Church and the rest of the world for decades. It can be traced as far back as Margaret Sanger, a nurse in the early part of the 20th century, who was the editor of the Birth Control Review, and an activist for population control and “the purification of the race.” In order to consider fairly if contraception is moral, the effects and uses—both good and bad—must be considered, as well as the Church’s position, as it stands as Christ’s voice here on earth, and teaches with the same authority. Once that has been examined, one can make an informed decision as to what the proper response to this controversial issue should be, and what steps can be taken to spread this informed knowledge. There are two ways to use birth control, or the “pill”: the first as a medication that can be prescribed, and the second as initially intended—to prevent pregnancy.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Female Birth Control Essay

    • 1046 Words
    • 4 Pages

    However, hormonal forms of birth control does not allow women the choice to be minimally decent Samaritans by allowing them the option to go along with the pregnancy. Thus making women fall below the standard of being minimally decent, which is in itself immoral. With this said, the use of hormonal birth control should not be permissible and in order to prevent embryonic deaths, one should refrain from using these methods and resort to contraceptives which aim to prevent fertilization such as the female and male…

    • 1046 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Each year, U.S. teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections. The sexual education in schools cannot claim innocence because if the education for this topic was better, teenagers would not have gotten these diseases. “Controversy arises when abstinence is provided to adolescents as a sole choice and where health information on other choices is restricted or misrepresented” (Santelli 1). Many young children misinterpret abstinence-only programs and this is why young girls may end up in abortion…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sexual Education has been encouraged to be a part of public school education since the late 1800’s. It is a program that is supposed to help young adolescents understand their body, promote abstinence, types of contraception, the risks of engaging in sexual activities, and how to prevent diseases or pregnancy. However, many parents fight this program because of their beliefs that teens should stay abstinent till marriage, and learning about sex will increase their urge to have sex. Depending on what the state requires to be taught and what a school district wants, a student will either receive one of the two styles of sexual education. The two styles are comprehensive and abstinence only.…

    • 1798 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Birth control is a controversial issue when it concerns teenagers, who we often consider as children. As of 2014, teenage pregnancy rates are at an all-time low in America- but the United States still has the highest teen birth rate in the industrialized world. (U.S Department of Health and Human Services). The use of contraceptives has served to decrease the rate of teenage pregnancy, but there are still restrictions on young girls, who are forbidden in purchasing their own products. Despite the risk, birth control helps to develop responsibility in young teens, it is much safer than the alternative, and it is effective.…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abstinence-only classes are not as effective as comprehensive sex education classes because most students only hear the fact that condoms are not 100% effective. Therefore, they use condoms less often, which in turn can lead to diseases and pregnancy. Comprehensive sex education throughout public school can show students how to prevent HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy. Sexual activity among teens cannot be eliminated, but a difference can be made by implementing sex education as a required curriculum in public schools as early as elementary school. The sex education classes can take the place of parents who do not know how to communicate with their children or are not around enough to keep them on the right path.…

    • 1800 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should Sex Education be in Schools? A Review of the Literature Statistics show 34.3 percent out of 1000 female adolescents are pregnant, actually the lowest recorded in history (King, 2014).The previous statistics lead to approximately 850,000 adolescent pregnancies alone (McKeon, 2006), the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy recorded in the United States opposed to every other country. McKeon (2006) also states around 9.1 million adolescents have contracted an STI/STD under the age of twenty-five. In the society were young adults are expected to excel managing major degrees or higher in college contraception frowned upon by many.…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Today birth control is used in the United States and all over the world. Approximately 61 million women living in the U.S are at the age of 15-44, where it is physically possible for her to have children, and about 43 million women are at risk of an unwanted pregnancy. More than 99% of the women in their childbearing years have used at least one pregnancy prevention method, and about 62% of all women are currently using birth control (Guttmacher). Advancing in technology and science, more women are aware of risky it is to participate in unprotected sexual intercourse. There are several forms of contraception, but there is no best method of pregnancy prevention.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics