Birth Control

Birth Control

I cannot even fathom the idea of going to a Walgreen's or CVS to refill my monthly prescription of birth control pills and be rejected service due to the pharmacist's moral beliefs. This however happened in Menomonie, Wisconsin when a young girl came to a Kmart to refill her prescription of birth control pills and Neil Noesen (a back up pharmacist) explained to her that he couldn't give her the pills "with a good conscience" and further did not direct her to another pharmacy or transfer her prescription to a nearby Wal-Mart. I was appalled at the idea of this and as I read along, I saw the many various views that many people have about this issue. While these are rare incidents, they show that birth control has become something that America culture can disagree with.

As the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), Congress and the medical community debate over this birth-control dilemma, one of the main questions being asked is if easy access to birth control increases risky or promiscuous sexual behavior. My answer to this is no. I had a three year long relationship in high school and never once engaged myself in sexual activity until I had already graduated high school. Practicing abstinence was always something that I knew I wanted to do and if birth control was available to me, it would have not changed my mind. Those decisions are not made out of the availability of contraception but made in a deeper place in a human being. Once I had became sexual active, I went though the steps in order to get birth control so I did not have to worry about becoming pregnant at a time in my life where I knew I couldn't raise a child. God is in my heart but never once do I feel guilty for taking birth control in order for my life to keep on track. I have known girls who I would define as promiscuous and I know for a fact that they face deeper issues in their life that impact their actions. The availability of birth control doesn't affect their sexual life in no shape or fashion. If they didn't take it, it would not hinder their sexual promiscuity. Advocates of improving the access to birth control argue that sexuality plays a "multifaceted role in human relationships." Marjorie Signer, communications director for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice says, "In religious tradition, even the ones that impose strict control see sex as part of life, and I don't think very many say that the only purpose of sexuality if procreation."

People who believe that the increase in birth control use increases risky sexual behavior argue that "women are more likely to have sex when they are not prepared for pregnancy and are more careless in choosing sexual partners because they are not concerned about the men's suitability as fathers" says Smith, of Detroit's Sacred Heart Major Seminary. She goes on further saying that when birth control sometimes fails, the result frequently is abortion, single motherhood or an unsuitable marriage that ends in divorce. While this might on the surface see like a given fact, the truth is that there is no data to support the claim that access to contraception leads to more intercourse or more abortions. Emory's Hogue says that "health economists have noted for years that the demand for contraceptives is elastic - meaning that if the cost and difficulty of obtaining birth control go up, usage goes down - while the demand for sex and abortion are "inelastic" Hogue points out. In other words, whether or not birth control is available, people will have sex at the same rates. Quite frankly, with no contraception, we have more unwanted pregnancies and more abortions. Now this seems to me, something that people with religious morals would not want, right?

An interesting thing to note in this ongoing battle and war is that women have been searching for effective birth control not just in the 1900's