In Britain, one in 20 minors are being prescribed birth control pills without their parents’ knowledge.
The Daily Mail reports that some of these girls are as young as 12-years-old, and approximately 75,000 girls under the age of 16 receive the pill every year. This is a 50% increase in a decade. Unfortunately, parents are not aware that their daughters are on the pill because doctors aren’t required to inform them.
The British pro-life group, Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), said the following about the statistics: “Giving birth-control pills to under-age girls is uncaring towards children, undermines parents and exploits an uninformed public. It is uncaring towards children, because it ignores the fact that sexually-transmitted infections among teenagers have risen at the same time as increased provision of contraceptives.
They continued, “It undermines parents by denying them their right and responsibility to govern their children’s behavior. It exploits an uninformed public, because no-one is told that, according to the manufacturers, the ordinary birth-control pill can kill newly-conceived embryos. In short, schoolchildren and parents are being betrayed by the birth control policies at work in Britain.”
In the past, doctors have warned that the effect of oral contraceptives on minor girls is unknown and there could be long-term health risks for teenagers. They also said the pill encourages girls to engage in risky sexual behavior and normalizes underage sex, which results in more sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers.
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In fact, the statistics show that chlamydia cases have doubled to 206,774 in Britain; gonorrhea cases to 34,958; and herpes cases have increased by 79%. These diseases can be incredibly painful and lead to infertility. Former GP Dr. Trevor Stammers commented on the new data. He said, “The rate of STIs is unacceptably high. But if the contraceptive Pill is the main mechanism for reducing unplanned pregnancies, then you have to expect STIs will go up.” Dr. Stammers went as far to say that the fact that any 12, 13 or 14-year-old has an STI is a “dreadful reflection of the state of neglect in which we have left our children.”
He added that this sort of activity breeds abuse and encourages men to violate young girls. Dr. Stammers said the recent scandal involving the cover up of gang rape in Oxford and Rochdale is “partly fueled by the attitude that underage sex is normal.” He said, “Prescribing the Pill to under 16s automatically gives encouragement to that awful scenario.”
On August 18th, senior Conservative MP Bob Neill said the information is “deeply shocking” and contraceptive pills are destroying the childhood of young girls and “undermining responsible parents.” Of course, abortion proponents disagree and argue that oral contraceptives reduce teen pregnancy and abortion rates.
However, the truth is more sex often leads to unplanned pregnancy because no contraceptive is 100% effective. In 2011, a ten-year study on contraception was conducted in Spain and the results were astounding. The study found that contraception use increased by 60% in the country but the abortion rate also doubled. This means that even though more people were participating in “safe sex” more women became pregnant and aborted their babies.
As LifeNews previously reported, in Sweden, between 1995 and 2001, teen abortion rates increased by 32% during a period of low-cost oral contraceptives and over-the-counter emergency contraception Additionally, National Review reported that “out of 23 studies on the effects of increased access to ECs, not one study could show a reduction in unintended pregnancies or abortions.”
Some experts believe that the decrease in teen pregnancy is linked more to pro-life laws than contraceptive use. Specifically, they believe laws requiring minors to receive parental consent prior to abortion and laws that restrict abortion funding reduce abortion rates. This claim is supported by statistics that show parental involvement laws correlate with a 16% decline in the minor abortion rate and Medicaid funding restrictions correlates with a 23% decline.
