Shaffer, Cullen: Teens and Contraception

            Contraceptives are an integral part of having a safe and satisfying sexual life. Every woman needs to find the ideal contraceptive to fulfill her needs. The most effective contraceptives are the ones which work over the long term. However, a small minority, only “5% of use among teens” utilize such contraception techniques (IUDs). The ignorance of the effectiveness of the long term contraceptives is somewhat alarming and definitely correlates positively to the number of unplanned pregnancies in America. The proportion of women younger than 20 that use long term contraceptives is extremely low, partially due to the fact that parents won't acquire the long term contraception for their daughters because that would indicated that their daughters engage will engage in sexual intercourse for that long and often - “with an ongoing sexual relationship” (Parents Prefer Some). Parents are also not fond of IUDs because in the past some such as the “Dalkon shield… marketed IUD with considerable safety problems” frequently presented dire health consequences to the unlucky users of the product (Parents Prefer Some). Better contraceptive methods would be more readily available to adolescent girls if “a parent respects their daughter’s autonomy, the more likely that a parent is to accept a doctor offering their daughter any type of contraceptive (Parents Prefer Some).  

            Teen pregnancies are becoming an issue and are also helping to fuel the controversial abortion debate. It has been reported that “more than 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended.” This is caused not only by the weaker effectiveness of the short term contraceptives, but also by not utilizing long term contraceptives. More women should use the IUD method because the failure rate is “less than one percent” which is significantly lower than the failure rate of other contraceptive methods (Parental Acceptability). IUDs are the safest method overall because “ of high rates of inconsistent use and…. Use of failure prone contraceptive methods”. IUDs eliminate unnecessary risks and allow for a safer sexual lifestyle. In short, IUDs would more than eliminate teen pregnancies while also protecting the health of females and reduce number of circumstances that would result in abortion.