Birth Control

Trials and Tribulations: The Controversy over the Birth Control Pill

Since it's development in the early 1960's there has been constant debate over the use of birth control pills. Birth Control Pills use synthetic hormones, estrogen and progesterone, to prevent ovulation and trick a women's body into thinking that she is already pregnant.

(http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blthepill.htm)

An individual's position on birth control pills can be influenced by many factors including cultural background, religious beliefs, and political positions.

Each person makes their own decision, and is often passionate on their position feeling that their position is the only right one.

Cultural stances on the birth control issue vary greatly among the many peoples of the world. For example the Navajo Indians are very open-minded and do not condone modern methods of contraception. On the other hand many native Africans mistrust contraception and view it as a way that the white man is weakening their culture and killing off their future offspring. (http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC31/Willson.htm)

Religion plays a vital role in a many individual's decision to use or not use birth control. Many religions view the use of birth control as a sin, and equate it to abortion. The Catholic Church is probably the most outspoken on their anti-birth control beliefs. As a Catholic myself, I see the effects of the Catholic churches position in my own family. My great-grandmother had eighteen children. Others religious beliefs also impact a woman's ability to get access to birth control. For example Julee Lacey, 33, a Forth worth, TX mother of two, went to her local CVS drugstore for a last minute pill refill. She had been getting her prescription filled there for a year, so she was astonished when the pharmacist told her, "I personally don't believe in birth control and therefore I'm not going to fill yours". Lacey an elementary school teacher was shocked. "The pharmacist had no idea why I was taking the pill; I might have needed it for a medical condition". That night Lacey and her husband complained to the assistant store manager and the district manager the next day. Finally, the pharmacy supervisor called and said he would have her prescription delivered that day. He apologized and said he was unaware of the pharmacist's moral objections to the pill (Prevention Magazine, C. Bollinger). In addition there are more and more doctor's refusing to write prescriptions for birth control. Some of the physicians' say it's against their moral believes. Some have said that they believe the pill is a form of abortion. They are some physicians who will only write a prescription if the women are married. These doctors are telling unmarried women that they have a choice either you refrain in sexual activity or deal with the consequences. (www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/gr050510.pdf)

Politics plays a vital role in a woman's right to avoid an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy, and to protect herself from potentially deadly diseases.

The current President of the United States, George W. Bush, believes that we should teach American youth that abstinence is the only way. I realize that no one wants to think about fifteen year olds having