by Judie Brown, President/co-Founder
American Life League
The words “Contraception is a pillar in reducing adolescent pregnancy rates” sound eerily like a promotional ad by Planned Parenthood Federation of America. But that is not where these words are found. Rather, they are part of the introduction to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The policy statement goes on to say that “adolescents consider pediatricians and other health care providers a highly trusted source of sexual health information. Pediatricians’ long-term relationships with adolescents and families allow them to ask about sensitive topics, such as sexuality and relationships, and to promote healthy sexual decision-making, including abstinence and contraceptive use for teenagers who are sexually active.”
In other words, the family pediatrician is an expert guide for the sexually curious adolescent who might want to have a sexual relationship but does not want to get pregnant as a result. All one needs to do is unpack the philosophical foundation for a statement such as this to see that it is nothing more than Planned Parenthood blather cloaked in the respectability of what was once an upstanding professional organization.
Furthermore, why is the AAP suddenly suggesting that the birth control pill can be bad for adolescents but an implant or an IUD can be better? The answer provided by the lead author of the policy statement is this:
IUDs and hormonal implants cost more, usually hundreds of dollars, because inserting them involves a medical procedure typically done in doctors' offices. But they're less expensive in the long run than over-the-counter condoms or prescription birth control pills, said Dr. Mary Ott, an adolescent medicine specialist and associate pediatrics professor at Indiana University. She is the policy statement's lead author.
Teens have to remember to use pills and condoms consistently. By contrast, IUDs typically work for three to 10 years after insertion, while implants typically last three years.
This arrogant cynicism about young people raises that old argument about kids to a new level. You know the one: How can we trust a kid to take the pill regularly when she cannot even clean her room?
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