the-at-symbol asked:

How do you feel about birth control being offered to girls under 16 (the general age of consent)

It is not good.

1. Everyone reacts to hormonal medication differently. Side effects can range from uncomfortable to lethal. It’s not something to choose lightly, especially without parental input.

2. Birth control is not 100% effective. If a girl is on the pill, she needs to take it at the same time every day. For a young teenager, this may not be realistic.

3. Long-term birth control methods such as an IUD have been associated with dangerous complications that have resulted in infertility. Allowing a teenager to risk losing her fertility permanently is irresponsible.

4. Self-control and self-discipline are skills that need to be taught. Throwing our hands up and saying, “Teenagers will be teenagers” means we are failing those teenagers. We gave up on teaching responsibility and self-control. Anyone else see the consequences of that?

5. For reproductive health issues there are more effective ways to actually treat the underlying problem rather than put a bandaid on it. If a girl has endometriosis, ovarian cysts, etc., those problems need to be treated, not covered up. If you mask the symptoms and the underlying problem persists, she’ll face the same difficulty if she decides to have kids and goes off the birth control. If you treat the problem, her quality of life will go up dramatically.