My OperaUnderage Contraception
Monday, June 9, 2008 7:55:56 PM
Lately I've been looking into other choices for birth control. I'm a 16, (soon to be 17) year old young woman who wants to make responsible choices. I have future plans and children aren't involved in them. I find it incredible that there are law makers that think parents need to be informed if their child wants to be prescibed birth control.
I've never been able to openly talk to my mother about my relationships, and if my father were still alive, I wouldn't have relationships to talk about. So I want to know why legislatures want to really restrict young women's right to protect herself and properly care for her body. Have they ever been a teenage girl? I highly doubt that unless they went through some extremely painful surgery at one point in their life.
The mentioned politicians say that allowing young women such open access to birth control is irresponsible and encourages sexual behavior. Restricting birth control and wanting to inform parents does nothing but promote unprotected sex, promote the spread of STD's and HIV, and possibly inflate the percetage of teenage pregnancy. It's irresponsible on their part to frighten young women into seeking help and being responsible for themselves.
I'm personally at a crossroads. I've been with my boyfriend for over a year, and of course we've been intimate. We've both been looking for an affordable alternative to condoms. What is so wrong with that? We're young adults trying to make an informed decision. We care about our futures and we care about each other. We're able to talk about it comfortably and conclude what the best route is, (other than abstinence, we're teenagers - hormones exist, ignoring them is ignoring human nature).
Sex is natural and making it seem like such a taboo (when it shouldn't be seeing as no one would be here if no one had sex) does nothing but make us uninformed and uneducated about our bodies. I just wanted to put this out there because not everyone has a parent that they CAN talk to about things like this. And not everyone out there has a parent that's open to the idea of their child having sex. A good portion of teenagers are having sex, few parents want their kids to be the ones doing so, but it's the truth.
I've never had sex without using a condom. That is the precaution I take to make sure my future is a bright one. If people were more open about sex, maybe there would be less unplanned pregnancy, teenagers aren't the only ones with surprises on the way. Restricting responsible young adults is doing nothing but furthering the problem instead of providing a solution.
I've never been able to openly talk to my mother about my relationships, and if my father were still alive, I wouldn't have relationships to talk about. So I want to know why legislatures want to really restrict young women's right to protect herself and properly care for her body. Have they ever been a teenage girl? I highly doubt that unless they went through some extremely painful surgery at one point in their life.
The mentioned politicians say that allowing young women such open access to birth control is irresponsible and encourages sexual behavior. Restricting birth control and wanting to inform parents does nothing but promote unprotected sex, promote the spread of STD's and HIV, and possibly inflate the percetage of teenage pregnancy. It's irresponsible on their part to frighten young women into seeking help and being responsible for themselves.
I'm personally at a crossroads. I've been with my boyfriend for over a year, and of course we've been intimate. We've both been looking for an affordable alternative to condoms. What is so wrong with that? We're young adults trying to make an informed decision. We care about our futures and we care about each other. We're able to talk about it comfortably and conclude what the best route is, (other than abstinence, we're teenagers - hormones exist, ignoring them is ignoring human nature).
Sex is natural and making it seem like such a taboo (when it shouldn't be seeing as no one would be here if no one had sex) does nothing but make us uninformed and uneducated about our bodies. I just wanted to put this out there because not everyone has a parent that they CAN talk to about things like this. And not everyone out there has a parent that's open to the idea of their child having sex. A good portion of teenagers are having sex, few parents want their kids to be the ones doing so, but it's the truth.
I've never had sex without using a condom. That is the precaution I take to make sure my future is a bright one. If people were more open about sex, maybe there would be less unplanned pregnancy, teenagers aren't the only ones with surprises on the way. Restricting responsible young adults is doing nothing but furthering the problem instead of providing a solution.
