Why has more availability of the morning-after pill made no difference to UK teen pregnancy rates?

Question

I personally think it is because the focus is more on cure and less on prevention. What do you think?

Answer 1

I was a teenage mother myself, in my case I didn’t really have much education about contraceptives, but also I suffered from a severe lack of confidence and self esteem, that prevented me from saying no. I am sure that I am not the only teenager who feels like this and I think that you are right prevention is better than cure so not only should teenagers be better educated about contraception but in confidence building.
I get very angry when comments are made that teenagers get pregnant to get a house and benefits, getting pregnant was the last thing that I wanted to do, as was going onto benefits, which was something that I did for a very short space of time. As soon as possible I went out to work to support my child and as she got older continued with my education at the same time as working. I now have a successful career and a beautiful daughter, but I did not see getting pregnant as an easy option. Being a teenage mother has made my life twice as difficult.

Answer 2

as i am 17 year old girl personally think that i will be able to explain this to you a bit. Although the moring after pill is avaible a lot of of young people are decived by the fact that if they do give brith they will be able to do well and be able to suppport themseleves and the baby. This is because a lot of tv television programmes decives young people e.g my 'wife and kids' the feel that a lot of hard work may make the situation better. Also know adays more shame is shown to young people by their peers if they abort the baby they are usually insulted and told 'oh my gosh how could u kill an inncoent life'. The last thing is that many young people believe in the myths that if sex happens they cannot get pregnant on the frist time, some also believe that they will not get pregnant while menstrating shocking as it may sound young teen still believe this. also young teens just see sex as such a natural thing they do not regard any moral issues now adays

Answer 3

The last time i went to get the MAP I had to talk to the male pharmacist who was about 50. I was getting it over the counter as opposed to prescription and was told that i could get it free if i answered a few questions. He then went on to ask me a lot of very probing questions and i had to fill out a gruelling survey. I found it to be embarrassing and I'm 22, i can understand why teenagers don't go through this process.
Maybe if we had some kind of no-questions-asked clinic where kids could go and not be faced with with interrogation and judging looks, we might have less teenage pregnancies.

Answer 4

Not only has it had no effect to teen pregnancy rates, it has actually managed to increase the number of STDs (sorrry, they are now know as STIs - apparantly calling them a disease gave them a stigma that infection does not!!)

My grandfather (a GP!) always said that condoms should be free and that the pill should be paid for. That way, contraception would be down to the man - and it would cut down on STIs!

Oh, and one of the best bits of advice my mother gave me was that if you were to embarrassed to go on the pill and buy condoms, you are not old enough for sex. Perhaps this should also be used in classes!

Answer 5

I'm not completely convinced it hasn't made a difference, without a control group there is no way of knowing how many more pregnancies there would of been without the availability of the pill.

Answer 6

i agree with that it's more cure than prevention but also i suppose there's the embarassment factor in it for teenagers as well - a bit like they're embarassed to pick up condoms in the first place.
also some people are going to be irresponsible no matter what's out there.
and last but not least *some* teenyboppers see kids as the latest fashion accessories - "all my friends have got one!"....

Answer 7

I do agree with what people here have said, but i think a big part of it, is our (me being English) Victorian attitude about sex. Much of it is shrouded in intrigue and mystery. In my opinion, our continually increasing age of consent has only worsened the situation.
I agree we do need an age of consent, but facts are facts.
The Dutch, who are far more sexually open (and I am not referring to prostitution, just generally), have frank open discussions about sex, and have one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe.
Spain experiences a similar situation - low teen pregnancy rates - in spite of an age of consent of 12 or 13.
Most teens have sex at young ages to experience it, to find out why it's illegal under the age of 16, to find out why society says to wait until you are "old enough".
The only way we will ever tackle our escalating teen pregnancy rate is to lose much of our inhibitions over sex, and also to stop publicizing teen pregnancies in the national press.
As people have said, condoms and other contraceptive methods are readily available, but I think one of the main reasons why prophylaxis fails in this country is due to our repressed sexuality. I am not advocating for red light districts and sex shops on every corner, like much of Europe, but we do need to be more open and honest with our children. Otherwise, there will no longer be "teen pregnancy rates", they will become the norm.

Answer 8

Pregnancy is about sex, not about pills. You have to discipline your "between your legs" not your mouth, which is about getting fat and horrible looking, a completely different problem also affecting the UK slowly bure sure.

Answer 9

1

Answer 10

Because teenagers dont care if they get pregnant. Worst case senario is that they have a baby get a house and money from the government to look after it.