Essay On The Pros And Cons Of Birth Control

Contraception on Both Sides of the Debate Birth control has been a controversial topic in the U.S. since the early 1900s. This topic has caused a divide in many religious groups on whether it is moral or immoral. I feel very strongly about this subject and have decided to learn about it in greater depth from both sides of the issue. There are many negatives to birth control and many positives as well. Many religious groups believe it is wrong to have sex for any other reason than to have children. Many opponents of birth control also point out several health concerns like possible high blood pressure, infertility, and cancer risks. Women are plagued by painful cramps every month due to their period; birth control helps tame a period or can almost do away with it completely. It can help clear up acne on girls faces and give them security in knowing they are much less likely to get pregnant while using birth control and engaging in sex. The debate over birth control even follows women into the workplace. Many women are not provided with health insurance plans from their employers that cover birth control. Some people believe it is the employer 's right to not provide birth control in their health insurance; others believe they should be required to provide it in their health insurance plans, because it is a preventative health measure. The arguments for and against birth control both have valid reasons behind them and I wish to investigate them and further my respect and knowledge for both sides of the issue. Before the 1930s most religions condemned the use of contraceptives. Christianity often connects birth control with immoral sexual habits (People and Events, 2001). Opponents of contraception argue that it is unnatural and that it is a form of abortion. Most religious groups try to promote abstinence as the best birth control, which it is, but a studied showed that teens who make the pledge to abstain from sex are much more likely to participate in oral and anal sex. They are also more likely to not use a condom in their first sexual encounter and not to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. A lot of the argument from the church against contraception is based on teachings instead of actual scripture, because the Bible has almost nothing to say about it. That is why some more liberal denominations of Christianity say it is not valid to say it is immoral to use it, as long it is not used to be promiscuous (Ethics guide: Contraception, 2014). In 1930, the Catholic church officially condemned birth control and said it was virtually the same as murder. When the birth control pill came …show more content…
Women have many options today on what kind of birth control they want. They can take a birth control that has hormone pills for every day of the month and virtually gets rid of their period all together. This way they do not have to worry about having their period for special events. It gets rid of the headaches and cramping that come monthly to most women (Birth control pill FAQ, 2016). With these perks of birth control, there are also risks. A high chance for breast cancer can come with the use of birth control. A study in 1996 showed that women who did not use the birth control pill had a lower risk of getting breast cancer than those who used the pill (Oral Contraceptives, 2012). Another side effect of birth control is that it can cause a rise in the user 's blood pressure and that can cause other complications. One of the biggest perks to birth control is being able to have a planned pregnancy. Even women who have a placebo week in their birth control cycle have a 98 to 99 percent prevention of getting pregnant. Every year so many women become pregnant without proper planning ahead of time. The children that are born from unplanned pregnancy are often put up for adoption, or they are born into poverty because the family was not ready to pay for a child at that point in their life. With birth control women can plan to have children when they are mature and are financially ready for them (Birth control pill FAQ,