I was dismayed to read that a school board in Maine decided to make “the pill” available to middle school students (10 year olds) without parental consent or knowledge. 1As long as a parent had signed a general consent form to have their child receive medical care at the school. In several of the “pro” interviews, the first thing the interviewee would say was, “First of all, abstinence education hasn’t worked.”Let’s get real. Of course abstinence education doesn’t work if you don’t use it. Condoms don’t work if you don’t use them. “The pill” doesn’t work if you don’t use it. So saying that abstinence doesn’t work is a specious argument.Here’s a little list of the effectiveness of abstinence, condoms, and the pill:Effectiveness against pregnancy if used:
- Abstinence: 100%
- Condoms: almost 100%
- The pill: almost 100%
Effectiveness against STDs if used:
- Abstinence: 100%
- Condoms: almost 100%
- The pill: 0.0%
Effectiveness against pregnancy and STDs if not used:
- Abstinence: 0.0%
- Condoms: 0.0%
- The pill: 0.0%
By the way. The article regarding giving children the pill was on the same page as an article explaining why folks are lobbying the FDA to not allow children to have cold medicine. Cold medicine: no; the pill: yes. Ironic, isn’t it? 2Before you jump all over me about this, yes, I know the cold medicine was for children under 6. But then, again, how long will it be before we begin issuing the pill to 6 year olds?
Footnotes
↑1 | As long as a parent had signed a general consent form to have their child receive medical care at the school. |
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↑2 | Before you jump all over me about this, yes, I know the cold medicine was for children under 6. But then, again, how long will it be before we begin issuing the pill to 6 year olds? |