Northern Ireland Offers the Jab to Teens

Verrrry interesting article on News Letter from Northern Ireland.  "Will the Government's offer of contraceptive jabs to all women over 16 solve the problem of unwanted pregnancies amongst teenagers, or is it likely to cause a wave of promiscuity with subsequent health disasters on a scale this country has never seen before?" 

The author Jackie McGregor reports the downside of "jabs" (injections) such as Depo-Provera, which may include increased risk of heart disease and an increase in sexually-tramsitted diseases (STDs), including chlamydia.  Since 2001, chlamydia has taken over in Ireland as the most commonly reported STD. One of chlamydia's side effects is Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, which can lead to infertility in women.  Since chlamydia has no symptons, many women are unaware that they have it. 

The author asks: "But what about the moral and emotional consequences it will have on young people today, and why has this Government chosen to ignore the American form of education for young women which has dramatically reduced the rate of teenage births in various states? There, young women are being encouraged to simply say 'no'. In fact, romance is the new buzzword to many young Americans."  Wow!!  It's unusual to find this viewpoint in the European press.

McGregor continues, "Society is throwing open the doors of promiscuity to teenagers, instead of protecting them. With easy contraception available, there is no longer any reason to say no."   Amen, Jackie!

Comments

[Happy to Know]

I am happy to know that the world over is beginning to see the light, and writing about it. That is encouraging! Clearly, the whole "free sex" movement is finally revealing it self to be exactly what it is--a great way to destroy your emotional health and contract a disease.

[Erin P]

Mary,

Great blog - great article. Thanks. I have 4 comments (at least:).

1) Here's what the writer says to close the article:

"The Government may be helping to prevent pregnancies, but they're inviting a tidal wave of sexual diseases and an epidemic of the most intolerable affliction known to man, the broken heart.

What preventative measures will the Government come up with in dealing with the brokenness that comes with premature loss of innocence?"

Enough said.

2) Why is it always about the need to Control Women's Fertility like it's the plague? Why is the word pregnancy usually described as a problem? No wonder why women feel bad about themselves and how they're made...I resent and resist the idea of these injections.

"How It Works
Depo-Provera works in three ways:

--It prevents the ovary from releasing an egg.
--It thickens the cervical mucus so sperm cannot travel up into the Fallopian tubes to fertilize an egg.
--It makes the lining of the uterus very thin so a fertilized egg cannot implant."

(http://scc.uchicago.edu/depoprovera.htm)

Does this sound right to you? Does this sound healthy?

3) SEASONALE - Don't get me started. Their motto: "Fewer periods. More possibilites." Sure you "get the convenience of 4 periods a year", but honestly if women were made, intended to have their periods once a month, what makes us think we should interfere with that natural biological process? Why not find a way to eliminate our periods all together and then we can really be "as free" as men?

4) These injections do not teach responsibility to young women and men. They are actually disempowering and a world without a little self-control is, well, a scary world.