2008 Woodie Awards
Sex education, not prohibition
Kate Rogers
Issue date: 9/5/06 Section: Features
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The Food and Drug Administration has finally approved emergency contraception, a.k.a. the morning-after pill, to be sold over the counter to women 18 and older. It's a start. I'm sure the morning-after pill will have a similar relationship to cigarettes now: younger girls want them, older girls buy it for them. Being an avid pro-choice, bleeding heart liberal, I have no problem with this; I want women of all ages to have access to emergency contraception. But there are many who do have a problem with the morning-after pill.
First of all, the morning after pill is NOT the abortion pill. The abortion pill terminates a pregnancy. The morning after pill prevents a pregnancy. The medical definition of pregnancy is when a fertilized egg implants itself in the uterine lining. Egg + sperm + uterus = pregnancy.
I understand many people's objections to the morning-after pill. For those who believe that life begins as soon as the sperm hits the egg, the morning after pill is abortion. But 50% of fertilized eggs never implant in the uterus, and these women never become pregnant. Is this a miscarriage? Did this woman just get lucky? Is it abortion if the woman chooses to not become pregnant by using the morning-after pill? Herein lies the debate.
This summer, I read many well-written articles about our society's views on abortion and contraception. The one thing I can take away from all of these is that contraception is becoming the new abortion. It's a word so taboo that people are forced to take sides. Since when is a condom so scary?
If anyone has any great ideas that will stop people from having pre-marital sex, I'd really like to hear them. Abstinence-only education? I don't think so. The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any industrialized nation, and our rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs, formerly called STDs) are ridiculous. Abstinence-only education does not work. Telling teens to not have sex will not stop them from doing it. It will only have uneducated decisions that can lead to very severe consequences.
First of all, the morning after pill is NOT the abortion pill. The abortion pill terminates a pregnancy. The morning after pill prevents a pregnancy. The medical definition of pregnancy is when a fertilized egg implants itself in the uterine lining. Egg + sperm + uterus = pregnancy.
I understand many people's objections to the morning-after pill. For those who believe that life begins as soon as the sperm hits the egg, the morning after pill is abortion. But 50% of fertilized eggs never implant in the uterus, and these women never become pregnant. Is this a miscarriage? Did this woman just get lucky? Is it abortion if the woman chooses to not become pregnant by using the morning-after pill? Herein lies the debate.
This summer, I read many well-written articles about our society's views on abortion and contraception. The one thing I can take away from all of these is that contraception is becoming the new abortion. It's a word so taboo that people are forced to take sides. Since when is a condom so scary?
If anyone has any great ideas that will stop people from having pre-marital sex, I'd really like to hear them. Abstinence-only education? I don't think so. The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any industrialized nation, and our rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs, formerly called STDs) are ridiculous. Abstinence-only education does not work. Telling teens to not have sex will not stop them from doing it. It will only have uneducated decisions that can lead to very severe consequences.
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