Pratt, Rachel: Teens and Contraception

            In today’s society, many teenagers are being put on contraceptives. However, the parents of these teens are more likely to allow their child to use contraceptives (e.g., condoms or birth control pills) that aren’t as effective as more effective contraceptives such as IUDs. Researchers have found that although the use of contraceptives by adolescents has escalated in the last two decades, more effective contraceptives are still not used as often as they should accounting for the acceleration of unexpected teen pregnancies in the United States. Other studies have shown that most adolescents don’t use condoms and, thus, are at risk of STDs.

 So why aren’t parents letting their teenagers have more effective contraceptives (Dawson)? Lauren Hartman, M.D. said it is because IUDs are a more effective contraceptive, but parents are scared that if they allow their teenager to obtain it, it will increase the likelihood of ongoing sexual intercourse. Studies have shown that IUDs offer the best protection from unwanted pregnancies. Members of the ACOG Committee wrote that "Long-acting reversible methods are top-tier contraceptives based on effectiveness, with pregnancy rates of less than 1% per year for perfect use and typical use." According to research, 80% of adolescent pregnancies are unintended and that around 20% of all unintended pregnancies in the United States are to adolescents. This shows that the use of condoms, pulling out, birth control, and oral sex are not as effective as IUDS. A recent finding is that around 42% of all teenagers participate in sexual intercourse. Women whom use short-term contraceptives were 22 times more likely to get pregnant that those that used IUDs. Also young women, under 21, were twice as likely to get pregnant while using short term contraceptives. Women and teens should first be offered long term contraceptives according to specialists, and they should be cautioned to use condoms to protect against potential exposure to HIV (Bankhead). Therefore parents should become more comfortable and aware of their teenagers autonomy so that their teen is better protected from early pregnancies.