Pregnancy prevention education goes much farther than knowing if you have unprotected sex you are going to get pregnant. It's about funding and educating on the effectiveness of different methods, of knowing how to be sexually safe and having cheaper access to different types of birth control in low-income communities. A perfect example is the common misconception that the "pull-out" method is an effective use of birth control up there with using a condom or oral contraceptives. Many women are under the impression that because this method works sometimes for some women, it is an all-inclusive treatment. We need to be educating our reproductive population as early as possible about these effectiveness differences.
Another reason why increased funding may be necessary is because these same communities are not given cheap alternative to unprotected sex. Obviously I've been educated on the subject matter, but if I weren't I might be more likely to grab the free condom from student health before sex than having to go to the grocery store and purchase this product. Alongside this, many of these women do not have health insurance or coverage for oral contraceptives, throwing one of the safest options out the window for the group most in need. If you get the pill and have insurance, the $15-25/mo payment is a no-brainer choice to bearing a child. However, what if those same pills were between $50-75/mo? By putting a high base monetary value on obtaining contraceptive, we have essentially created a socioeconomic issue where the communities most in need of a product are being forced into making the choice between abstaining until they can financially afford to have sex, or take the risk and roll the dice.
These womens' "maternal instincts" have not "kicked in early", and I'm pretty sure these women were not looking to have children, but did have a sexual desire that comes naturally with puberty around ages 13-16. We need to start teaching these young women how to satisfy their desires while still being sexually responsible, and that's the problem with the system now. No one seems willing to address the problem head on, and legislators and administrators making these decisions are not considering the economic strategies behind investing money and resources now into a genuine, adult, guilt-free conversation about sex and relationships that would create a larger population of sexually responsible and educated adults.
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Pregnancy prevention education goes much farther than knowing if you have unprotected sex you are going to get pregnant. It's about funding and educating on the effectiveness of different methods, of knowing how to be sexually safe and having cheaper access to different types of birth control in low-income communities. A perfect example is the common misconception that the "pull-out" method is an effective use of birth control up there with using a condom or oral contraceptives. Many women are under the impression that because this method works sometimes for some women, it is an all-inclusive treatment. We need to be educating our reproductive population as early as possible about these effectiveness differences.
December 19, 2009 - 10:33pmAnother reason why increased funding may be necessary is because these same communities are not given cheap alternative to unprotected sex. Obviously I've been educated on the subject matter, but if I weren't I might be more likely to grab the free condom from student health before sex than having to go to the grocery store and purchase this product. Alongside this, many of these women do not have health insurance or coverage for oral contraceptives, throwing one of the safest options out the window for the group most in need. If you get the pill and have insurance, the $15-25/mo payment is a no-brainer choice to bearing a child. However, what if those same pills were between $50-75/mo? By putting a high base monetary value on obtaining contraceptive, we have essentially created a socioeconomic issue where the communities most in need of a product are being forced into making the choice between abstaining until they can financially afford to have sex, or take the risk and roll the dice.
These womens' "maternal instincts" have not "kicked in early", and I'm pretty sure these women were not looking to have children, but did have a sexual desire that comes naturally with puberty around ages 13-16. We need to start teaching these young women how to satisfy their desires while still being sexually responsible, and that's the problem with the system now. No one seems willing to address the problem head on, and legislators and administrators making these decisions are not considering the economic strategies behind investing money and resources now into a genuine, adult, guilt-free conversation about sex and relationships that would create a larger population of sexually responsible and educated adults.
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