A controversial scheme allowing girls as young as 13 to get the contraceptive pill without parental consent has been launched.The pilot scheme on the Isle of Wight will allow girls who ask for the morning after pill to also get a month's supply of the contraceptive pill.After that, the girls must see a doctor or a specialist nurse to get further supplies.The Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust says the scheme - which involves a third of the island's chemists - will reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.Critics say the Trust is being "irresponsible".Island MP, Tory Andrew Turner said: "We expect parents to take responsibility for their children"They are undermined if the NHS hands out contraceptives to girls with no medical examination or consideration of their circumstances."Underage sex is illegal and dangerous."Mr Turner is planning to take the matter up with Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.Local parish priest Father Anthony Glaysher described the scheme as "depraved", adding it would encourage promiscuity.However, one parent - the father of two daughters - welcomed the news."In an ideal world teenage girls would always seek the help and advice of their parents and would not have sex, but we live in a less than ideal world," he told the Isle of Wight County Press.Jennifer Smith, from the Isle of Wight NHS Primary Care Trust, said: "They are already sexually active, we haven't encouraged them to be sexually active."I would suggest that what we're doing is being entirely responsible by providing [contraception to] these most vulnerable women, for whom, for the most part, pregnancy is not a good outcome."
Dublin_Gunner wrote: » So your point is what exactly? Administering the Pill IS targeting the problem head on, in a contemporary, forward thinking way. Education can only do so much..
Dublin_Gunner wrote: » We can at least rest assured that if a teenager actively seeks to go on the pill for birth control that they will be responsible in taking it.
Dublin_Gunner wrote: » Wow. You don't know what you're talking about. 1. You associate having sex with smoking?? Seriously? Would you like to throw drug abuse in there also? 2. The pill provides NO form of protection against STI's. None. So there is no case of it working or not re: STI's. Its for birth control and menstrual and hormonal regulation. Sure there are side effects. But whats the worse side effect - a potential blood clot, or a pregnant 13 year old? (I'd like to add that pretty much EVERY OTC drug you buy has potentially worse side effects - and I'm yet to know a woman who has suffered from blood clots or depression as a result of taking the contraceptive pill, so I'd imagine the risk is fairly low considering the amount of females that currently take it). The lesser of two evils must be taken into account here, and they're giving these teenagers the opportunity to be at least a bit responsible regarding an act they're going to participate in anyway. After all, I can't imagine seeing teenage virgins signing up for it - it will be the already sexually active ones.
crayolastereo wrote: » I have been on 4 different types of pill. I know my ****. If you are having sex at 13, you are within a peer group that is probably smoking also, because it is most likely within a lower socio-economic class.
prinz wrote: » Seriously, it's obvious you haven't got a grasp on how seriousn the pill can actually be.
prinz wrote: » This isn't about actively seeking it, it's about being distributed along with the MAP as a bonus.
crayolastereo wrote: » They also think it keeps working in the 7 day break, it doesn't. .
Dublin_Gunner wrote: » What an absolutely diabolical assumption you make..
Dublin_Gunner wrote: » Just because they go looking for the morning after pill does not mean they're going to start taking contraception. It will only be the ones who WANT to, that will take it.
bluewolf wrote: » Who on earth told you that?
MrStuffins wrote: » This person seems to know an awful-lot about the user of the pill. What other drugs they take, their income and social class, what they think............ I thought Paul the Octopus was dead!
prinz wrote: » Exactly.However who is going to regulate it? Are they going to be properly informed? Will it be properly followed instruction wise? Are 13 year olds capable of making this kind of medical decision alone? Why stop at the Pill and why not let doctors prescribe other medication for 13 year olds without parental knowledge or consent. Who deals with the fall-out if one of these girls dies from complications of the pill?
crayolastereo wrote: » Does no-one understand the meaning of misconception? People thinking the pill works on the 7 day break has come up more than once on the PI forum.
bluewolf wrote: » It's the "it doesn't work in the 7 day break" I'm concerned about here. Maybe it depends on a type I don't take, but...
MrStuffins wrote: » so you think because one or more people think this, that everyone does? I don't even know why i'm answering you, what a load of tosh you've been posting! Even if you know 100% all about the pill, your other comments completely undermine anything you have to say i'm afraid
biko wrote: » I'm all for it. Young girls should have the option not to get pregnant and god knows young boys are too stupid to protect themselves.
crayolastereo wrote: » So everyone who has ever taken the pill, even if they are 13, knows how it works exactly? Also, as far as I'm aware, on most pills, the second you stop taking it there is a possibility you can get pregnant.
prinz wrote: » Well I'd have to question the understanding of anyone describing the pill as a forward thinking wonderful solution. Especially for kids as young as 13.
About 99.95% of women treated with the combined oral contraceptives for one year do not experience any serious adverse reaction, an IMB survey showed.
Dublin GP Dr Jim Keely said in 10 years of prescribing the Pill, he had not treated a patient any side effects caused directly by oral contraception.
crayolastereo wrote: » So everyone who has ever taken the pill, even if they are 13, knows how it works exactly?
Also, as far as I'm aware, on most pills, the second you stop taking it there is a possibility you can get pregnant.
MrStuffins wrote: » Complete scaremongering!
prinz wrote: » Of course it is. Something like 40 odd % of women on the pill suffer side effects. But sure what of it..
crayolastereo wrote: » Does no-one understand the meaning of misconception? People thinking the pill works on the 7 day break has come up more than once on the PI forum. And you know what? If you are having sex at 13, it is more likely you are from a lower socio economic class. If you are from a lower socio economic class, it is also more likely you started smoking earlier.
crayolastereo wrote: » I have been on 4 different types of pill. I know my ****. If you are having sex at 13, you are within a peer group that is probably smoking also, because it is most likely within a lower socio-economic class. If you smoke, you are not allowed on the pill, because it greatly increases your chances of getting DVT. I'm not just plucking this out of thin air. Now, if you are 13, and you smoke and have sex, but you don't want to get pregnant, are you going to quit smoking/tell your doctor? No you're not, because you're a stupid 13 year old.
MrStuffins wrote: » No, but there's a difference here, i never said anything of the sort. You say things like "I'd say they're smoking too". Ridiculous!
crayolastereo wrote: » And you know what? If you are having sex at 13, it is more likely you are from a lower socio economic class. If you are from a lower socio economic class, it is also more likely you started smoking earlier.
Dublin_Gunner wrote: » And yes, you CAN smoke while on the pill. Bloody hell. Whoever told you that you can't? 3 of my ex's smoked and were on the pill. Worked well for them I tell ya.
However, there is a clear association between cigarette smoking and increased risk of side effects while on the pill.
crayolastereo wrote: » You said that just because 1 person thought it, that means its unlikely many people think this, and therefore that most people don't think this. .
MrStuffins wrote: » so you think because one or more people think this, that everyone does?
crayolastereo wrote: » What I said was that if you are taking it at 13 (and the first packet as far as I can tell you don't even have to go to a doctor) its actually fairly likely that you don't know how it works
crayolastereo wrote: » (if they're having sex at 13 I'd say they're smoking as well).
MrStuffins wrote: » Something like 40 odd %? Jaysus! Is this what you've been basing your entire argument on? You could at least look up a few statistics instead of pulling numbers out of your arse! Also, you were speaking of death. "40 odd %" of pill users don't die!
Different sources note different incidences of side effects. The most common side effect is breakthrough bleeding. A University of New Mexico Student Health Center webpage says the majority (about 60%) of women report no side effects at all, and the vast majority of those who do, have only minor effects.
prinz wrote: » I never said 40% of users die, but don't let that get in the way..
Dublin_Gunner wrote: » An increased risk of an incredibly unlikely side effect does not make that side effect more likely.
Early sexual activity has little association with income, but young women who have little education are more likely to initiate intercourse during adolescence than those who are better educated.
younger students in the most advantaged areas of Australia were about 35% less likely to report having smoked some time in the last month than students in the least advantaged areas.
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