A WELLNESS PERSPECTIVE ON BIRTH CONTROL: EDUCATION IS BETTER THAN IGNORANCE

Author: Electronic Ardell Wellness Report

A Wellness Perspective on Birth Control: Education is Better Than Ignorance. Electronic Ardell Wellness Report (E-AWR). May 2002:3. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6628792&site=ehost-live. Accessed February 7, 2020.

Other than abstinence, the birth control method of choice favored by religious conservatives is abstinence! I loathed this method as a young man and, for that matter, I'm not so crazy about it now. I did not WANT to employ it as a teen nor during my early twenties while serving in the Air Force but, unfortunately, it was forced on me by a conspiracy of young women! Well, maybe not a conspiracy since that requires collusion. None of the eligible young ladies of the universe felt a need to conspire against me, since at that time I did not have the nerve to suggest alternatives to my abstinence! Now that I'm older and bolder, they don't take me seriously. But never mind, this essay is not about my early sex life — it's about a wellness perspective on education about and assistance for birth control.

In the early period of our species, and on through the industrial age, birth control was not a big issue, as a family or tribe could use all the hands it could get for work on the grasslands, farms and so on. Later, birth control became more a primitive art than a science, and the level of that art was not so high. Even up to and beyond the Industrial Age, birth control was not a social priority as there were plenty of natural resources to go around and as many hands as possible were still a priority. In addition, birth control either was frowned upon, forbidden, banned or more or less made illegal by the authorities, secular and otherwise. (I will refrain at this point from making fun of allegedly “rhythmic” methods of birth control favored by a certain major religion, except to note that this method has had little effect on the family size of its most ardent followers. That is to say, Catholics are not known for their small nuclear families.)

In modern times, the chief methods of birth control (besides abstinence, whether by choice or lack of interested others) are condoms, pills and sterilization. All have their drawbacks and limitations, as do other less common methods of avoiding unwanted pregnancies. Family planning experts claim the unplanned pregnancy rate in the United States is a startling 49 percent, so the need for more effective birth control is great.

Fortunately, two new contraception options for women (patch and ring) are being marketed, which could increase the effectiveness of birth control, at least in the Western world. One is a skin patch that is good for an entire week; the other is a vaginal ring that works for three weeks at a time. Both involve the timed release of contraceptive hormones.

Unfortunately, these excellent (assuming they prove to do no harm) advances in the science of birth control probably will not be affordable by the 7000 or so clinics run by health departments and Planned Parenthood. This means the new methods won't reach the estimated 6.5 million poor women they serve. This is regrettable for several reasons, among them the fact that the two methods are 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancies. The same can be said for birth control pills, if used as directed, but they often are not used as directed (taken daily, in other words), particularly by poor women with less education, support and follow up care. The patch and ring, unlike oral contraceptives, are not dependent on daily compliance. Compliance failures account for most of the 7.5 percent pregnancy rate during the first year for women using the birth control pill.

The chances of federal funds being made available for the costlier patch and ring methods by a religious conservative and abstinence-obsessed Congress and administration are not very good. Funding for the one federal program dedicated to family planning known as Title X remained at previous levels, though in fact it could be said to have declined 57 percent from 1979 to 2001 if adjusted for inflation. Oddly, a champion of sex education and birth control was the late president Richard Nixon. Imagine that. Tricky Dick is often approvingly quoted by mostly progressive family planning leaders for his statement in 1969 that “no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition.” Mr. Nixon is indeed a progressive by the standards of the Bush White House.

For more on the politics of this issue, see the Washington Post story about funding for sex education courses and/or read Isabel Sawhill's testimony before the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means.

Given this situation, all who favor maximum access for all women (and men) to birth control information as well as effective products (condoms, patches, rings, oral contraceptives and so on) will welcome the following news: May 8 is “National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.” This day is designed to provide teens with a better chance to “stop, think and take action.” Sponsoring groups nationwide will offer teens a fun and thought-provoking online “quiz.” The quiz will test knowledge, offer real life sexual scenarios and ask respondents to choose a course of action. One message will be that parents matter. Parents and other adults are encouraged to take and promote the quiz — and to talk about it with their kids.

DMU Timestamp: February 03, 2020 23:30