Morning-After Pill Goes Over the Counter

[Father Heathen]

Indeed. But if there is abuse or neglect, in any circumstance, then, ideally, it should be checked out. It's rather presumptuous, and a bit naive, to assume that every 14 year old getting pregnant resulted from abuse or neglect. Just to clarify, are you positing that every 14 year old girl who goes to get the morning after pill should be reported to the authorities?

If you have 12/13/14 year old kids out engaging in promiscuity with their peers unchecked, then it's a safe bet to call their parents' competency into question. Also, if you suspect a child might be in an abusive situation, doesn't it warrant a look on the side of caution?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Good point. The morning after pill is about preventing a pregnancy after having unprotected sex. There's any number of reasons a 14 year old would not want to tell their parents that have nothing to do with neglect or abuse, and, honestly, most young girls who are suffering from sexual abuse are probably not the ones with the presence of mind to go and get the pill in the first place.

It just seems an odd assumption to connect a teen having uprotected sex with parental abuse or neglect, and any policy based off this assumption seems rather Orwellian and, in practice, harmfully restrictive to girls who would need the pill.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

If you have 12/13/14 year old kids out engaging in promiscuity with their peers unchecked, then it's a safe bet to call their parents' competency into question.

There's some validity to your statement, but it's way to presumptuous to implement policy based off of this assumption.

 

[Alceste]

Good point. The morning after pill is about preventing a pregnancy after having unprotected sex. There's any number of reasons a 14 year old would not want to tell their parents that have nothing to do with neglect or abuse, and, honestly, most young girls who are suffering from sexual abuse are probably not the ones with the presence of mind to go and get the pill in the first place.

It just seems an odd assumption to connect a teen having uprotected sex with parental abuse or neglect, and any policy based off this assumption seems rather Orwellian and, in practice, harmfully restrictive to girls who would need the pill.

True - I was not trying to generalize all pregnant tens, but only point out that requiring parental consent is an appalling policy given that many girls are impregnated by their fathers in the first place.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

True - I was not trying to generalize all pregnant tens, but only point out that requiring parental consent is an appalling policy given that many girls are impregnated by their fathers in the first place.

I absolutely agree, if that wasn't clear.

 

[dawny0826]

The problem with this is that in reality, most sexual abuse goes unreported. All the while, we have young girls who are getting pregnant by those they either trust or are deathly afraid of.

Ensuring that the proper authorities are notified at a much higher rate than now I would assume requires major and complex changes. I support that 100%. I would just hate to see young girls have to go through a pregnancy if they can efficiently terminate it.

How legitimate are the fears for health risk of girls younger than 15 self-administering the pills?

I just think it's unrealistic to expect a 15 year old girl to have the gumption to purchase and utilize emergency contraception on her own after being raped within a 72 hour time frame, but, can't alert authorities as to the rape.

If you're intelligent enough to know that you need to purchase and take emergency contraception as soon as possible within a 72-hour time frame, why can't you further advocate for yourself? Doesn't make sense to me.

And for other young girls who are engaging in risky behavior, which is exaclty what sex is when you're 14-15 years old and not capable of taking care of yourself, an adult needs to be involved to ensure that, at minimum, the girl is provided the opportunity to speak with a medical professional to discuss all of her contraception options.

I am certainly a proponent of Emergency Contraception and I won't cry rivers if younger girls are provided the opportunity to purchase it. I do get a little ****** off when society has no problem distancing responsible parents from their children with important decisions such as this. I do have a legal right as of now, to be able to make these decisions with my daughters and I value that as an involved parent. If people don't get this, I offer no apologies.

As a parent, it is my business to know what my girls are up to, particularly when I'm legally responsible for their actions.

Our society values freedom and liberality without considering the full responsibilities that come with it. This also applies to stepping out of your comfort zone and getting nosey when you suspect abusive situations. Child Protective Services and like agencies exist for good reason.

 

[Valjean]

If you have 12/13/14 year old kids out engaging in promiscuity with their peers unchecked, then it's a safe bet to call their parents' competency into question. Also, if you suspect a child might be in an abusive situation, doesn't it warrant a look on the side of caution?

Given half a chance teens are promiscuous, period. Their parents aren't going to keep them out of the back seat of a Chevy unless they lock them in their rooms. It happens in the best of families.

When I was a teen the possibility of sex is what motivated me to get out of bed in the morning. I'd never have discussed sex with my parents and I lived in an upper middle class suburb. Most of my friends were shagging like rabbits.
Good parenting, in my opinion, isn't going to make much of a dent in this.

 

[Alceste]

I just think it's unrealistic to expect a 15 year old girl to have the gumption to purchase emergency contraception as a result of an abusive sitution, on her own, without adult involvement anyway.

That's no reason to make it a requirement that young girls must have parental consent to get emergency contraception.

 

[Father Heathen]

Given half a chance teens are promiscuous, period. Their parents aren't going to keep them out of the back seat of a Chevy unless they lock them in their rooms. It happens in the best of families.

When I was a teen the possibility of sex is what motivated me to get out of bed in the morning. I'd never have discussed sex with my parents and I lived in an upper middle class suburb. Most of my friends were shagging like rabbits.
Good parenting, in my opinion, isn't going to make much of a dent in this.

Actually, good parenting should instill character, self respect and responsibility.

And I know it's different with older teens, but we're talking about children who are 14 years old or younger. If you don't know where they're at or what they're doing, you fail as a parent. A kid's lack of obedience and discipline does reflect upon the parents.

 

[Father Heathen]

That's no reason to make it a requirement that young girls must have parental consent to get emergency contraception.

If they have legitimate reason to hide it from their parents, then there is legitimate reason for social services to investigate said parents.

 

[dawny0826]

True - I was not trying to generalize all pregnant tens, but only point out that requiring parental consent is an appalling policy given that many girls are impregnated by their fathers in the first place.

Where are your statistics to support this. You've just said that many girls are impregnanted by their fathers.

I'm not daft. I know this happens, but, please educate us as to how often this takes place. How many babies are being born to their mother and grandfather?

 

[Alceste]

If they have legitimate reason to hide it from their parents, then there is legitimate reason for social services to investigate said parents.

That's still no reason to place obstacles in front of girls who are afraid some particular encounter might result in a pregnancy.

 

[Alceste]

Where are your statistics to support this. You've just said that many girls are impregnanted by their fathers.

I'm not daft. I know this happens, but, please educate us as to how often this takes place. How many babies are being born to their mother and grandfather?

What difference does it make?

 

[Alceste]

For dawny:

Who are the Victims? | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network

 

[MysticSang'ha]

I just think it's unrealistic to expect a 15 year old girl to have the gumption to purchase and utilize emergency contraception on her own after being raped within a 72 hour time frame, but, can't alert authorities as to the rape.

If you're intelligent enough to know that you need to purchase and take emergency contraception as soon as possible within a 72-hour time frame, why can't you further advocate for yourself? Doesn't make sense to me.

Because one option can be hidden from further threats. The other option of "outing" your abuser is much more frightening.

And for other young girls who are engaging in risky behavior, which is exaclty what sex is when you're 14-15 years old and not capable of taking care of yourself, an adult needs to be involved to ensure that, at minimum, the girl is provided the opportunity to speak with a medical professional to discuss all of her contraception options.

I agree.

I am certainly a proponent of Emergency Contraception and I won't cry rivers if younger girls are provided the opportunity to purchase it. I do get a little ****** off when society has no problem distancing responsible parents from their children with important decisions such as this. I do have a legal right as of now, to be able to make these decisions with my daughters and I value that as an involved parent. If people don't get this, I offer no apologies.

No need to apologize anyway. Those are your values. I disagree that society is "distancing responsible parents from their children" when it comes to offering the morning after pill as available to them, however.

I get that you're a mom. So am I. My daughter is 14, and we talk a lot about these issues. She has given me no indication that she is willing to engage in any sexual activity. She shows me her conversations on skype and FB that she has with her friends. She has no cell phone to hide in her room at night.

However, I too offer no apologies to my stance that availability must be there for young girls who are raped by a trusted adult and feels she has nowhere else to turn. I think it's atrocious that society would prefer to take a sexually moral stance with pregnant minors on an issue where medical ethics should prevail...and that is, if a girl is raped and has an emergency situation where she must hide the fact that she can severely reduce the risk of going through a pregnancy, she should have that availability.

Morning after pills are much safer than overdosing on alcohol or ingesting poison or shoving a sharp object inside them or throwing themselves down the stairs.

You have a strong stance as a mother, Dawny. So do I.

As a parent, it is my business to know what my girls are up to, particularly when I'm legally responsible for their actions.

Our society values freedom and liberality without considering the full responsibilities that come with it. This also applies to stepping out of your comfort zone and getting nosey when you suspect abusive situations. Child Protective Services and like agencies exist for good reason.

I agree. I think discussions that lead to these types of conclusions severely underestimate the health and survival risk of young girls going through a pregnancy - alone.

 

[Father Heathen]

That's still no reason to place obstacles in front of girls who are afraid some particular encounter might result in a pregnancy.

How does informing the proper parties about an abuse or endangerment situation become an obstacle? I think silence is what facilitates and perpetuates the problem.

 

[Sunstone]

I favor allowing children to purchase the morning after pill without notifying their parents if they so choose. I recognize that's a tough choice, and I believe that in any normal case it would be unwise for a child to decide not to notify their parents. But I also feel that such a rule allowing children to purchase the pill without notifying their parents is necessary to protect those children who are being abused by one or both parents.

 

[Alceste]

How does informing the proper parties about an abuse or endangerment situation become an obstacle? I think silence is what facilitates and perpetuates the problem.

Why choose that particular moment, when a child is terrified that some consensual or non-consensual act might result in a pregnancy and is only concerned with averting that consequence, to pressure her to report her family to the authorities? Why not just let her sort out the pregnancy scare? How does the looming threat of police and social services getting all up in your family's business help a girl avoid an unwanted pregnancy with the morning after pill? How does it hinder? I think you've not thought this through.

 

[Alceste]

I favor allowing children to purchase the morning after pill without notifying their parents if they so choose. I recognize that's a tough choice, and I believe that in any normal case it would be unwise for a child to decide not to notify their parents. But I also feel that such a rule allowing children to purchase the pill without notifying their parents is necessary to protect those children who are being abused by one or both parents.

Thing is, it's not a tough choice. Condom broke? Morning after pill. I've done it twice myself. It's just the birth control pill at a higher dosage. The idea that teenage girls are tormented about it or need adult supervision to make the right choice is ridiculous. Little girls know they don't want to be pregnant.

 

[Valjean]

How does informing the proper parties about an abuse or endangerment situation become an obstacle? I think silence is what facilitates and perpetuates the problem.

What "proper authorities?"
Talk about big government, we'd need an army of inspectors and massive orphanages everywhere to house all the kids taken from their "incompetent" parents. How is an inner city ghetto or rural Appalachian community going to respond if 95% of their children are taken away by force? You'd have civil war!

A 15 year old gets herself in trouble messing around with her boyfriend. She could open up a huge can of worms by going to her parents, give them the final say in the affair, endanger her relationship with her parents, risk ridicule and ostracism from her friends and a life of miserable poverty should the parents insist she keep the baby.

Or she could simply make the problem go away -- simply, quickly and cheaply, and chalk it up to experience.