All the points made in Valerie's post are something that we have been discussing throughout my lifetime. However, the issues that are solvable through birth control have not been spoken of too often, not to mention birth control being presented as a beneficial alternative. The association of birth control alone has a negative connotation in my house, which may be the case in a lot of other houses because of misconception of birth control just being for sex.
Birth control can be frowned upon mainly because it's something that's related to sex. In the Hispanic culture sex is just something you don't speak about with the young women. One just does not bring up something that could take away the consequence and fear of having premarital sex. Which can be a huge problem, many young women and men are uninformed about sex and don't learn about it until Highschool. Which is at the time most teenagers start to have sex; the average age is 17.
Birth control can help to reduce the pregnancy rate. Although the pregnancy rate has dropped, we still hold the highest babies being born to women between the ages of 15-19. It would also be a helpful way to have parents speak to their children about birth control in a more positive light. Along with lowering pregnancy rates, there are some young ladies and woman who have terrible period related issues. Birth control helps to either reduce the pain of periods by stopping them all together or having them happen once every couple months. For all woman struggling to get out of bed in the morning because of period cramps being so painful, the uses of birth control can be for more than just sex.
Valerie's blog concerning birth control and women's health, in general, is informative and useful. The discussion of birth control is a rare topic, especially in a positive way. I enjoyed reading it, along with the article, "The Economy Can't Grow Without Birth Control by Bryce Covert" The whole article was refreshing.
