Decreasing the Rate of Teenage Pregnancy (Essay Sample)

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There are many factors to consider in the crucial fight to decrease the rate of teenage pregnancy. One of the factors that scientists and policy makers have spent much time considering is the access of emergency contraceptives for underage women. The topic tends to be controversial due to the side effects of emergency contraceptive pills, beliefs that greater access to contraception will actually increase the likelihood of early sexual experiences, and the notion that parents have a right to knowledge of the medical status of their children. Because these concerns hold merit, it is imperative that the debate on whether access should be granted to minors contains a well-informed cost-benefit analysis of the potential outcomes. Due to the extremely detrimental effects that early parenthood can have on the lives of young parents and their children as well as the high rate for risky sexual behaviors among minors, it is advisable that emergency contraceptives be made accessible to minors without the need for permission of a guardian or parent.
Emergency contraceptive pills are pills containing hormones that, if taken after sexual intercourse, can help prevent the incidence of pregnancy. They are marketed mostly to those for whom other forms of contraception, such as regular birth control pills or condoms, have failed to perform correctly or to those who have simply engaged in unprotected sex. These pills have recently received legislation allowing them to be available over-the-counter to men and women 17 years of age and older. Anyone younger than 17 would need parental consent in order to obtain the pills. Effectiveness rates generally range from around 45% to 75%, depending mostly on the parameters used to measure their effectiveness. Typical side effects of using emergency contraceptive pills include nausea, fatigue, and dizziness (Hatcher 1-874).
Though it is hard to obtain hard statistics on the effects of teen parenthood on the lives of the parents and the children, those who study the phenomenon largely agree that early parenthood increases the likelihood of poverty, crime rates, and academic failure (Rich-Edwards 555). Simply put, when adolescents must expend a large amount of their time and energy for childcare, it decreases the opportunities they have for their own success. The parents’ lack of success then renders disadvantages for the child. Due to these negative effects, much effort is put into various different approaches to decreasing the rate of teenage pregnancy. One of these approaches is to only educate minors about abstinence. The idea behind abstinence only teaching is that the only effective form of preventing pregnancy is preventing sex and that teaching about safe sex behaviors will increase the rate of underage sex. Though it is understandable why many people believe strongly in this approach, it unfortunately does little to prevent teen pregnancy. A correlation study looking at the effectiveness of abstinence only education found that "the more strongly abstinence is emphasized in state laws and policies, the higher the average teenage pregnancy and birth rate" (Stanger-Hall & Hall). This finding is important due to its link to teens having the need for pregnancy termination and last minute prevention.
In a study of the demographic use of emergency contraception pills, researchers found that half of women who used emergency contraception reported using it due to having completely unprotected sex (Daniels, Jones, Abma 4). This demographic, supposedly having little access to information regarding use of more proactive forms of contraception, is likely to also risk needing an abortion, especially if it is difficult to obtain an emergency contraceptive pill. In many cases, these abortions are performed in an unsafe manner because states that are more inclined to promote abstinence only education are more likely to rule against access to safe, medical abortions. It is imperative to prevent the need for abortion as much as possible because unsafe abortions can lead to death or disease in many cases (Grimes et al. 1862).
The women who offered data to the study on the use of emergency contraceptive pills ranged in age from 15 to 44 years of age. Of specific importance, the study found that 14% of women from ages 15 to 19 had used emergency contraceptive pills at least once. This statistics illustrates that, unfortunate as it may be, there exists a very real need for emergency contraception among minors. The fact that it is so inaccessible to them, requiring the consent of a parent, suggests that a great deal of young women who could benefit from these pills are turning instead to the risky alternatives of either abortion or young parenthood. This realization coupled with the fact that the World Health Organization cites no situation induced by the use of emergency contraceptive pills as riskier than the alternative strongly illustrates the logic behind making emergency contraceptive pills readily available to minors (World Health Organization 63).
Though the true goal...