The Pros and Cons

ENC 1011 Birth Control in American Society The Pros and Cons “On May 9, 1960, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the marketing of the first birth control pill in the United States. ” The battle over birth control waged on long before F. D. A’s approval. Since its creation, arguments both pro and anti birth control have been immense. From religious beliefs to freedom of choice, both sides still have yet to find a middle ground on this matter. Whether negative or positive, birth control has had a tremendous impact on American society with no compromise in sight.

The pro birth control side believes we must know in the war of birth control what exactly we are fighting for, teens are going to have to sex before marriage regardless, and parents have to do what they can to minimize the effects of it. According to one thinker, “The first step in determining the dispense of birth control is acknowledging the frequency of non-marital sex, and willingness to consider its consequences. ” Backed by Susan Jacoby studies, indicating that the percent of the population having sex by the age of 21 rose from 40% to 70% were for the entire population.

Today, 77% of men and women will have had sex, including 75% who will have had premarital sex, by the age of 20. Consequently, 95% of the entire population will have had sex outside of marriage by the age of 44, and they will overwhelmingly have done so with someone other than a person they will eventually marry (Jacoby). Naomi Cahn, a professor from George Washington University Law School once stated, “ The war for non-premarital sex was lost long ago, we’re now combatting the results of the loss with our main weapon being birth control. Once conceding defeat, the belief is that parents can neutralize the consequences of teens having sex by giving them birth control. On the other hand the anti birth control side; tends to believe by parents giving birth control to teens, they are in fact promoting teen promiscuity. According to research done by Richard John Neuhaus commenting on giving birth control to kids, “To do so would be to try something that possibly no society has tried before: to state publicly that there are no social standards or sanctions with respect to the sexual activity of young people.

Giving teens birth control would be parents way of saying, I expect you to have sexual intercourse with out verbally saying it. This would make it appear to be normal, thus by virtue lending a helping hand in teens having sexual intercourse (Neuhaus). Feeling dispense of such devices would led to lower standards in American society is more harmful then beneficent. Most people who are pro choice refute the notion of more harm done then good in usage. Joyce Arthur an activist for birth control was a part of several studies conducted in the U. S.

Joyce cited “The consequences of mothers and fathers parenting children they did not want to bear resulted in damages both to the children and parents. ” The children were significantly more likely to have mental handicaps, they performed significantly worse academically and were twice as likely to have a record of juvenile delinquency according to Dr. Jeffrey Peipert of Washington University in St. Louis in a study published. Activist states not only are we putting our future in jeopardy by denying them birth control, but we are also damaging our young teens.

Teens whom had to bear unwanted children have shown consistent patterns of anti-social behavior and neglect by their own parents. Joyce argues “These issues are more detrimental than the marginal increase in sexual activity amongst teens. ” Thus parents giving birth control devices to teens help society more according to Joyce Arthur. Many of those against birth control believe we cannot foresee the full impact of parents actively giving out birth control. According to Douglas J. Besharov,” Parents actively pushing birth control to teens ought to be aware of the possible increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STD).

Citing a vast number or birth control devices protect against pregnancy but aren’t efficient at fighting the diseases. Besharov stated, “If only can we have our parents weigh the unwanted birth of a child, to the lost of a child to an S. T. D, they may see the lesser of two evils in promoting birth control. No method outside of condoms has proven to offer any protection from a S. T. D. Besharov asks, “Are we so concerned with unwanted births that we’d disregard the health of the living? ” The debate on whether we should or should not give birth control to teens as gone on for years and will continue on for the foreseeable future. Both sides have made very valuable and valid points. There is no right or wrong answer it just a matter of beliefs and preferences. The only answer lies with in the person, if one chooses to have sex, with out question birth control should be readily available to them, to protect themselves from consequences. However, if there is any error at all in these debates it would be the notion that we should assume that all our teens are having sex.

With this assumption for us to actively push birth control could indeed send the wrong message. For those who aren’t actively having sex it could be due to the fact that they don’t have their hands on birth control devices and by us giving it to them we could also be giving them the green light to have sex. Works Cited Bartells, F. K. "Teens Should Not Have Access to Emergency Contraception Without Parental Consent. " Birth Control. Ed. Margaret Haerens and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. rom "The New 'Emergency Contraception': A Dark and Deadly Pill. " 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. Cahn, Naomi, and June Carbone. "Birth Control Asserts Feminist Values and Is Socially Beneficial. " Birth Control. Ed. Margaret Haerens and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Contraception: Securing Feminism's Promise. " The George Washington University Law School Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper. Vol. 476. 2009. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 4 Oct. 2012 Neuhaus, Richard John. "Long-Term Contraceptive Devices Promote Teen Promiscuity. " Teens at Risk. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. Parenthood, Planned. "Teen Access to Abortion Should Not Be Restricted. "The Abortion Controversy. Ed. Emma Bernay. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Child Custody Protection Act: Hearings on H. R. 1218. " 1999. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 24 Oct. 2012.