Should all girls over 17 be offered the pill?

mojesius

CK2010 wrote: »

i dont think its the cost of the pill thats too expensive, its the GP visits, which afaik you need to go to every 6months for a bp check if you're on the pill. but afaik the well woman centres are cheaper for a consultation. edit: just checked- its not much cheaper!

Actually, how much is the well woman centre at the moment?

HavingCrack

Gary4279 wrote: »

But then what about those who make an immature mistake. can't afford the child and he/she ends up as another statistic floating around government building beneath cover up after cover up. wouldn't it be better if the child wasn't conceived and instead she had a child 10 years later and that child went on to become a doctor.

Why does having a child ten years later mean he's more likely to become a doctor That's the strangest statement I've heard on boards in a good while.

Gary4279 wrote: »

1) the vast majority of people do not know this. we need better education

2)why ruin the life of the mother and the baby when it can be avoided.

3) Sex is so untalked about in this countries households it not even funny. i would imagine that most people when 17 would not have wanted to talk about sex with their family. although this is changing it is still the case. as a society i think we need to mature and stop treating sex as a taboo subject.

That's not a uniquely Irish thing. I'm fairly sure most 17 year olds across the world are not particularly comfortable discussing their sex lives with their family. Actually I doubt you ever want to discuss sex with your family whether you're 17, 37 or 57.

lila44 wrote: »

it's not the responsibility of the girl to make sure her fella slaps a jonny on! if anything, it's the guys responsibility!

i do hope you're joking with this comment!

It's a 50-50 responsibility. What happens if the man has an STI and he forgets to put a condom on? It doesn't stop the woman possibly becoming infected. It's as much her responsibility to make sure she's protected as it is his.

I do hope you're joking with this comment.

Stinicker wrote: »

Welcome to the 21st Century, The pill alone is responsible for the greatest crisis facing Europe this century. The very existence of the European race... whether women like it or not part of their existence on this earth is to procreate and if our parents took the same arrogant approach to this important topic as today women take then most of us would not be around. Population decline alone will destroy the economies of Western Europe and a womans place is firstly as a mother and a homemaker. Now suck on that liberal pinkos neo-feminists.

You and Pope Urban would get on fantastically well. Actually, Pope Urban was banned... welcome back Pope

CK2010

general consultation: 55
student consultation: 50
General Nurse consultation: 35

dunno if nurse can do it or not. i know some can issue a repeat prescription but not sure about the initial one.

CK2010

mojesius wrote: »

Forgot to mention GP costs, thanks. Yup, check-ups are a medical necessity if you're on the pill in case of DVT or other adverse conditions.

So the only way I can see this ludicrous free pill system working is by giving everyone from the age of 17 to whatever age the scheme supposedly ends a free medical card because they might be having sex. What a complete waste of money. As another poster just said, look at the UK with underage pregnancy.

not necessarily.
when you're pregnant if you see your GP for a pregnancy related problem you dont have to pay, whereas if you're there for something unrelated then you're charged. (ironically i got charged for a pregnancy related problem and then when i had a burn months later i wasnt charged as i was pregnant!) im sure a similar system can be used with regards to contraception.

klose

I said yes!

Firstly give sex ed in secondary school, dont mind that cspe ****e ya do for j.c lets give useful education instead of saving the world by putting up posters to stop littering!

Then suggest to people to watch them sex ed/ embarising teenage body programmes on c4, serious education in them shows i learned alot its very helpful. Thereusually on at 8 or 10 one or the other.

Cut the price of condoms, ridiculously priced! I believe there taxed as a luxery item haha heap 0' ****e that is.

Tell parents to cop on and realise there kids are gonna have sex and as such offer them the choice for the pill, its also great for acne problems which teenagers HATE so your hitting two birds with the one stone there.





One thing i did find kinda shocking reading this was the story of STI's spreading in ireland, I always use a condom ever though my girlfriend is on the pill.
The pill=not 100% safe from preventing pregnency
Condom=not 100%safe from pregnency and sti's
The pill+condom+not haven sex like in pornos= a way better chance of working than each method of contraception individually.

I sleep easy

seamus

While at first glance, it appears to be a great idea - free pill should cause a drop in the number of unwanted pregnancies, right?

The UK have been providing the Pill free on the NHS for a number of years now. So before we are to go off making it free here, we need to look at the UK's results from their project. Otherwise we are doomed to repeat their mistakes.

Key information necessary is:

1. Has the number of unwanted/teenage pregnancies in the UK dropped?
2. Have they seen an increase in the number of women presenting with health issues created by side-effects?

The problem with the scheme, like many schemes and laws, is that you're aiming it the socio-economic group who are least likely to avail of it. Taking the pill effectively is an art form in itself. OK, so it's not *that* difficult, but only people who are adequately concerned about contraception are going to know how to take the pill, how to take it effectively and how to know when you've taken it wrong.
If Jacintha from Sherriff Street isn't really bothered about contraception now, then sticking a free packet of pills in her hand isn't going to make her any more bothered. Even worse, her mate Jackie, who is slightly more worried about getting preggers and was more conservative about putting it out, now takes the pill in a haphazard fashion but still considers herself fully protected so she rides all the local lads once a week. So whatever reduction in risk we see in Jacintha, has now been compensated for by Jackie increasing her risk.

We also have a problem of attitude among the lower socio-economic groups in relation to the reasons for having a child. In these groups, being pregnant at 16 or 17 is not necessarily a bad thing. It's what their mates are doing, it's a way of securing more money and benefits for your family and in many cases it's a means towards getting your first house. It's not unusual to see four generations of one family living in the same house in order to maintain their social welfare benefits. In many areas and communities, women who don't have a child by 24 are old maids.

The problem is that we're assuming that an unwanted baby or an underage pregnancy is unwelcome. In many cases, it's not.