According to the World Health Organization, 212 million women become pregnant annually, 87 million of those unintentionally. Of those, 46 million induced abortion. While birth control methods have evolved, including the morning after pill that works after intercourse has already occurred, many people still believe this method should only be used by women over the age of 17. It works by preventing fertilization and stopping the release of eggs from the ovary and should be consumed 24 hours after sex in order for it to fully function. All woman, regardless of their age or economic status should have access to this pill, instead of dealing with an unwanted child, or a traumatic abortion.

Girls and woman around the world need to take care of their own bodies, and govern their own decisions. One Columbus School teacher shared the story of a friend who didn’t use birth control because of pressure from her boyfriend and ended up having 5 abortions even before finishing high school. In the state of Massachusetts, the morning after pill is only available by prescription and had it been easier for her to get, the physical and emotional trauma of those abortions could have been avoided. The restricted access to get the pill forces woman to choose between exposing their sex life to get a prescription or dealing with future consequences such as unprepared parenthood or abortions that can be harmful, psychologically and healthwise. If the pill was a human right, shame and exposure woman go through would be abolished.

Pregnancy is both parents responsibility. The pill is a way for woman to protect their power. “I see things like this as an equal rights issue, boys dont need a prescription, nor they need a doctors appointment to get a condom, birth control should be this accessible to girls and woman,” Emily Butterworth, TCS teacher, said. Additionally, when women get the prescription, the male’s name remains unknown. Men buy condoms with no restrictions, why can’t women buy the pill the same way? Prohibiting the sell of this pill  is violating human rights and led by a misconception of the idea of sex.

Waiting until marriage to have sex is a weakly founded idea, and the belief of the pill being damaging shows a condition of misinformation. Conservative individuals influenced by religion, suppose that if the pill has age restriction, teenagers would wait for marriage to have sex. “The conservative people and government believe that anticonceptives are bad for human beings, and cause damage in the female body, and that god is the one to decide if they are supposed to have a baby or not,” David valencia, 11th grade student TCS said. Additionally, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, pregnancies of girls under the age of 15 have a 60% higher risk in ending in death of the mother and her child. This illustrates that if the pill is accessible for young girls it can be a lifesaver and prevent casualties. The fact that sex has evolved just as everything else needs to be acknowledged.

As a responsible community, we need to  talk about sex and provide young girls and woman the tools they need to have safe sex. If we educate man and woman, we will be able to avoid unwanted pregnancies or unprepared parents. Education encourages making right decisions, and if we load society with knowledge, a responsible community will emerge. Ignoring the problem will not lead us anywhere. We need to block the misconception that talking about sex is encouraging it, talking about sex is being responsible because if nobody talks, and nobody listens, this is what leads to approximately 46 million abortions each year, worldwide.