Argumentative Research Paper on Birth Control Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

I have a steady job and good insurance so paying for my contraceptive comes easy. I couldn’t image myself being a mother and being responsible for another life at the age of 15 or even younger. There are millions of girls out there who cannot afford the cost of birth control and do not have access to it. We cannot force them to abstain from sex but what we can do is make is easier for them to get a contraceptive and hopefully reduce the risk of unwanted pregnancies. Local pharmacies such as walgreen’s, cvs and even the grocery store should provide free birth control to those who want it no questions ask.

Essay Topics Public Administration

If contraceptives were more readily available the amount of unwanted and teen pregnancies would decrease. It helps regulate women’s cycles, can help against std’s and other diseases such as syphilis and aids, it also can help a women be aware of her body. It helps reduce the risk of anemia, ovarian cysts, symptomatic endometriosis and helps to prevent osteoporosis. The average cost of birth control without insurance ranges from $73 for yaz, $69 for ortho tri cyclen and even $441 for mirena, a new form of contraceptive. The average cost with insurance is not much less ranging from anywhere around $10 $60 a month depending on your plan and which form you take. Even with the most understanding parents, it’s not always easy to talk to them about sex and ask them to take you to the doctor so that you can get the pill. The united states has the highest percentage of teen pregnancies at almost 84 teen pregnancies per one thousand teens.

Each year almost one million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant. For every eight teenage girls you see walking down the street, one of them either is pregnant or will become pregnant. Approximately 20% of all teenage pregnancies will result in abortion, about 15% give them up for adoption, 50% keep them and the other 15% have a miscarriage. There are over one million children in the united states that live in foster care or with adoptive parents.

The government spends over a trillion dollars each year on welfare, accounting for almost 60% of the federal budget. The numbers will continue to increase as more and more people are in need of government assistance. Others are simply uneducated in the methods of prevention and many do it because they feel the need to feel a void in their life and long for the attention and love of someone. It is not uncommon to turn on mtv or open a magazine and not see models in revealing clothing, music videos where the artist is almost naked or even tv shows were teens are having sex. Birth control is the control of fertility, or the prevention of pregnancy, through one of several methods.

Another common name for birth control is contraception, because that is precisely what the various birth control methods do they prevent the viable sperm and egg from uniting to form a fertilized embryo. Though discussing birth control is no longer likely to lead to an arrest, as it did in the days of birth control pioneer margaret sanger, public debates remain. Controlling fertility affects the well being of women, men, children, families, and society by providing methods and strategies to prevent unplanned pregnancies. Planned fertility positively impacts the health of children, maternal longevity, and the empowerment of women. Access to birth control provides women and men with choices regarding family size, timing between pregnancies, and spacing of children.

Additionally, controlling fertility reduces the prevalence of chronic illness and maternal death from pregnancy related conditions. Research shows that unintended pregnancies can have devastating impacts on not only women but also children and families. An unintended pregnancy places a woman at risk for depression, physical abuse, and the normal risks associated with pregnancy, including maternal death. Pregnancies that are spaced closely together present risks to children, including low birth weight, increased likelihood of death in the first year, and decreased access to resources necessary for healthy development. Unintended pregnancies can have devastating impacts on the well being of the family unit.

An unplanned pregnancy often pushes families with limited economic resources into a cycle of poverty that further limits their opportunities for success. Although control of fertility spans approximately 30 years of men’s and women’s reproductive life, preferences for birth control methods and strategies vary among individuals and across the life course and are influenced by multiple social factors. These factors may include socioeconomic status, religious or moral beliefs, purpose for using birth control permanent pregnancy prevention, delay of pregnancy, or spacing between births , availability of birth control products, access to medical care, willingness to use birth control consistently, concern over side effects, and variability in the failure rates of different types of birth control products. Although the primary purpose of birth control is to control fertility, increases in the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections stis and the human immunodeficiency virus hiv , which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome aids , have created pressures to develop new pregnancy prevention options that combine contraception and sti prevention. The availability of contraceptive options allows women and men the opportunity to maximize the benefits of birth control while minimizing the risks of contraceptive use according to their needs.

The availability of birth control has raised important questions about reproductive control and the relationships between men and women. Traditionalists argue that pregnancy and child rearing are the natural or biologically determined roles of women, given their capacity to become pregnant and give birth. Opponents of this view argue that reproduction and motherhood are one of many choices available to women. Providing options to women and men that allow them to control their fertility has shifted pregnancy and motherhood from a position of duty to one of choice. This shift is a consequence of changes to the work force, increased opportunities for women, and changes in the economic structure of contemporary families. These changes, along with ongoing developments in fertility control research, provide women and men today with many innovative choices concerning birth control.

These choices allow women and men to tailor birth control to their individual needs and life circumstances. Today, birth control debates focus on the advantages and disadvantages of different birth control methods. The most common debates focus on the merits of temporary versus permanent methods of pregnancy prevention. Other debates examine the benefits of natural versus barrier methods of controlling reproduction. Still other debates examine the advantages and disadvantages of male and female contraception. With the growing pandemic of aids in sub saharan africa and asia and the increasing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases that threatens world health, contemporary debates about birth control focus on the feasibility and practicality of combining sti prevention and contraception.

English Homework for Year 10

brief history of birth control although women have sought to control their fertility since ancient times, safe and effective contraception was not developed until the 20th century. The large influx of immigrants in the 1900s and the emergence of feminist groups working for women’s rights helped bring to the forefront large scale birth control movements in the united states and abroad. Ancient forms of birth control included potions, charms, chants, and herbal recipes. Ancient recipes often featured leaves, hawthorn bark, ivy, willow, and poplar, believed to contain sterilizing agents. During the middle ages, potions containing lead, arsenic, or strychnine caused death to many women seeking to control their fertility. Additionally, crude barrier methods were used in which the genitals were covered with cedar gum or alum was applied to the uterus. Later, pessary mixtures of elephant dung, lime mineral , and pomegranate seeds were inserted into a woman’s vagina to prevent pregnancy.

Other barrier methods believed to prevent pregnancy included sicklewort leaves, wool tampons soaked in wine, and crudely fashioned vaginal sponges. Later birth control developments were based on more accurate information concerning conception. By the early 1800s, a contraceptive sponge and a contraceptive syringe were available. By the mid 1800s, a number of more modern barrier methods to control conception were available to women. However, it was illegal to advertise these options, and most were available only through physicians and only in cases that were clinically indicated. Modern contraceptive devices such as the condom, diaphragm, cervical cap, and intrauterine device iud were developed in the 20th century and represented a marked advance in medical technology. Although these methods represented a significant improvement over more archaic methods, contraceptive safety remained an issue.

Other modern methods included the insertion of various substances some toxic into the vagina, resulting in inflammation or irritation of the vaginal walls, while other devices often caused discomfort. The birth control pill, developed in the 1950s by biologist charles pincus, represented a major advance in fertility control. Pincus is credited with the discovery of the effects of combining estrogen and progesterone in an oral contraceptive that would prevent pregnancy. The development and mass marketing of the birth control pill provided women with a way to control not only their fertility but also their lives.