Free emergency contraception linked to rise in teen STI rates
As if on cue, from my previous post, I stumbled over this article published in Infectious Diseases in Children March 2011. I wonder if the editors of Maria Talks will change any of their “scientific” information. Don’t hold your breath….
Free access to the “morning-after pill” has not reduced teenage pregnancy and may be associated with a rise in sexually transmitted infections, a study in the United Kingdom found.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham studied pediatric health data from local English authorities to measure the effectiveness of government-sponsored initiatives offering teenagers free emergency birth control (EBC) at pharmacies….
Overall, they found that areas with a pharmacy that offered free EBC saw an average 5% increase in STIs among children younger than 18 years. In children younger than 16 years, the STI rate increased by 12%. STI rates for teens and older women increased consistently during the study period, but the teenage STI rates increased faster as EBC programs were introduced.
Further, they found that EBC initiatives may even be associated with a small increase in the rate of teen pregnancies.
“There are at least two possible explanations for these null results,” the researchers said. “The first is that increased access to EBC for adolescents does, in fact, result in reductions in teenage pregnancy, but that the effects are too small for the statistical tests used to reveal them. A second explanation is that, as might be predicted by standard microeconomic theory, increased access to EBC induces at least some adolescents to increase their level of risk-taking sexual behavior and that the reduction in pregnancies from greater use of EBC is being countered by additional pregnancies resulting from this behavior change.” (emphasis in original.)
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No form of oral contraceptive can increase your chances of getting an STDs. If a person is irresponsible than they can expect an STD; however the oral contraceptive does not increase your chances of an STD. The answer isn’t “don’t take oral contraceptives” the answer is “have some self respect and don’t sleep around.
@Jossi The oral conception by itself doesn’t increase the risk of STD’s, but they give the opportunity for sex without worry about pregnancy, which in and of itself leads to promiscuity. This has been thoroughly demonstrated by many, many studies since the advent of the pill.
Each person is responsible for their own actions, not every person on oral contraceptives gets an STD. As I said if a person has multiple sex partners than expect an STD. Oral contraceptives are very useful in planning a family, many people on oral contraceptives use it to be responsible. There is no proof that oral contraceptives increase the likelihood of an STD. There is no proof @Glenn E. Chatfield
@Jossi I agree that oral contraceptives may be good for family planning for those so inclined. But they can also mess up the woman’s system in many ways. However the statement that oral contraceptives increase risks for STD is not based on the rather limited number of married couples using them, rather it is based on the massive numbers of young single women. The facts are that STD rates have increased exponentially since the advent of oral contraceptives. Having them available for unmarried people has helped encourage sexual promiscuity. Yes people are responsible for their own actions, but when you hand people a stick of dynamite, they just might get cocky playing with it and set it off. ANd that is the point.