Birth Control Should Be Available Over The Counter Essay

The debate regarding birth control and they should be available over-the-counter has be going on for ten years. Many countries have the contraceptive pill available over-the-counter (OTC), but the United States does not. An individual who could have favored from this is a childhood friend of mine. Three years ago, at the age of fifteen she got pregnant and was blessed with a beautiful and healthy baby boy. Though she loved her son, there were many things she missed out on being that she was now a mother. She had been to afraid to ask her mother to allow her to be on birth control and relied on condoms, but they were obviously ineffective. Although many teenagers are afraid to ask for their parents permission to get contraceptive pills, this

is not the only reason why they should be available to women without a doctor's prescription.
Birth control should be provided for women OTC because many women are in favor and encourage the the government to provide these pills in stores.

In the article 'Birth Control Should Be Available Over The Counter' statistics show that approximately two-thirds of women in the United States support and want the pill to be sold OTC. A second statistic shows that roughly thirty percent of women who are not on birth control right now would contemplate going on it if OTC birth control was an option. Many women who are sexually active are not ready or simply do not want to have kids right now. Frankly women who do not want kids shouldn't have to bring them into this world if they are not gonna be loved properly and birth control pills are one of the most effective forms of preventing pregnancy. In the same article, it says that there is a belief that claims that due to the fact that birth control pills are only available through a doctor's prescription, this encourages women to visit their doctor more often. But Amanda Marcotte, says that this belief should be omitted. She tells us that obligating women to take a vast health risk with an unwanted pregnancy to get them to surrender to numerous medicinal tests they might not require is poor medical practice. Making birth control OTC is not a reason as to which women will stop having consultations with their doctors but could avoid unnecessary and invasive

exams.
A second reason as to why the contraceptive pill to be sold over the counter is because they are safe. In the article 'Should Birth Control Be Over-The-Counter?' the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have expressed that birth control pills are secure enough to be accessible OTC. If birth control is safe and meets all the FDA criteria then it should be available OTC because it would not pose any harm to women. On the occasion that conception prevention pills are safe enough to be OTC medicine, then it is up the the consumer to opt if they wish to follow up with their doctor. According to Britt Wahlin, the director of development and communications of Ibis Reproductive Health in 'Birth Control Pills Should Be Available over the Counter and Still Covered by Insurance', the prerequisite of a prescription is an obstacle that many women face while trying to obtain and use contraceptive pills. Also OTC birth control would also be more convenient because women could simply go to their local pharmacy rather than having to scheduled an appointment with their doctor and miss out on work and/or school.
Birth control is such a controversial topic in itself. These family planning pills should be up for grab OTC and let the women decide if they want to take them without a doctors prescription as other individuals make the same decision with other medications such as allergy pills and pain killers. If experts say that this medication is safe enough to be sold OTC then why not trust and allow women to make their own health care choices. OTC birth control is grate option not only because its more beneficial and easier to obtain but because many women can avoid needless medical examinations.