According to a statistic published by the Office of Adolescent Health, "Texas was ranked 5 out of 51 (50 states + the District of Columbia) on 2011 final teen births rates among females aged 15-19 (with 1 representing the highest rate and 51 representing the lowest rate)." If that isn't an eye opener for you then I don't know what is.
Up until about two years ago, I had received free birth control regularly from Planned Parenthood over a course of three years without any problems. On what I thought was going to be a regular visit, turned out to be far from it. I waited a long while in the waiting room for my name to be called as usual, only to be told that I could no longer receive free birth control. It would now cost me $100. What? It couldn't be. They must have had a mix up! At 18, I didn't have an extra $100 laying around to spend. I left the clinic extremely worried and without birth control. I am now only spending a $60 copay for each visit, which I still don't think I should have to pay for.
It is very crucial for Texas to provide absolutely free birth control to all women who are sexually active. If there was free birth control available in Texas, I know for a fact we wouldn't be one of the highest states for teen pregnancy rates. The rate of unwanted pregnancies would drastically decline due to the fact that most cannot afford the ridiculously expensive cost of effective birth control. With birth control being a big expense, most people decide to skip this preventative measure. Free birth control should be available to every woman no matter our age, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, or income. Period. Texas needs to provide this free health service to all women to help reduce the many problems that lead to unwanted/unplanned pregnancy.
1 comment:
I agree. If women have to pay for their birth control then pregnancy in teens and young adults will start to escalate. Women who engage in sexual activity and aren’t able to afford birth control risk getting pregnant when they don’t have the financial means to care for a child. Studies show birth control is also taken by women who aren’t sexually active because it helps prevent and treats health conditions, a fee of them being ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease, and uterine fibroid tumors.
Planned Parenthood birth control may be free to some woman, but they do charge on a sliding scale based on ones income. Over all I think the main reason contraception should be free is if the availability goes down, abortion rates go up.
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