Argumentative Essay: Should Children Receive Birth Control?

Imagine receiving a medical bill addressed to you that had the prescription for your 16 year old daughter’s birth control pills. The problem is you did not consent to her getting on birth control. As a parent what would your reaction be, pain, anger, sadness? Would you be angry at your daughter for getting the pills without permission or would you be angry at the doctor for providing the birth control? According to Guttmacher Institute, 21 states in the United States allow minors to consent to contraceptive services (Minors Access…). Although many people may consider birth control to be a positive thing, there are some negatives to getting birth control that many 16 years olds do not think about, such as an increased chance of promiscuity, and the side effects that may be associated with birth control.

One of the few reasons why minors should have to get parental consent before getting birth control is because of the fact that this may lead to promiscuity. Since birth control main objective is to stop pregnancy, teens will get on birth

Even though birth control (except for condoms) is used for protection from an unwanted pregnancy, it does not protect partners against sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, etc. which can lead to many other problems if not properly treated such as infertility (Infertility).

One of the major risks to using birth control is the side effects that they may cause. According to emedexpert.com, about 40% of women who take birth control pills will have some kind of side effect within the first three months of use. Some of the side effects include an increase in blood pressure, depression, migraines. Some of the extreme effects include Heart Attacks, blood clots, and strokes in which several different cases and studies have been conducted and reported (Birth Control