In the United States, a survey conducted from 2011 to 2013 showed that among females from ages 15 to 19 who have had sexual intercourse, 22 percent said they used emergency contraception at least once in their lives. This pill is commonly used by adults for years, but has not been allowed for teenagers to consume without prescription. The pill consists of taking within 72 hours of sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy. The morning-after pill should be sold without prescription to teenagers because young people are not prepared for parenthood and teen pregnancies damage both parent and child.

Parenthood is hard, even for mature adults, and teens are not prepared. Sustaining a kid is challenging, not only economically, but it’s a huge responsibility. According to ABC news, “Plan B has been sold over-the-counter in China since 1998, and a study published in 2011 in the Journal Human Reproduction involving 2,521 women found no adverse side effects.” China is experimenting selling the pill over the counter and has worked successfully. Selling this pill without prescription has helped many women, not only teens. Many pregnancies among teenagers happen of unprotected sex or uncultured situations. According to Margarita Hurtado, a local gynecologist, “Many teens come for consults since they are underage and have had unprotected sex. This situation delicate since it is seen frequently in Colombia and mostly in poor people because they don’t have the education.”

Raising a kid is tough and has side effects. Teens bodies are not physically or mentally prepared for the expectation of having a child. Profamilia states, “Early motherhood can affect the psychosocial development of the child. Children of adolescent mothers are more likely to be born prematurely with low birth weight, which predisposes to many other conditions for life.” This means the baby is at greater risk of intellectual, linguistic and socio-emotional delays. Early motherhood can affect immensely both the parent and the kid and this consequence can last a lifetime.

The pill not only needs a prescription, but other methods are too expensive to afford. According to Debate.org, “Why should they have a rape baby or pay for an abortion, which the pill is 300-800$ or an actual surgical abortion which is up to 975$, when they can get access to a 40 or 50$ pill to stop a pregnancy before it even starts? ”That being said, abortion or other alternatives are overpriced and the morning after pill is a more affordable option. For teens is hard to find financial support. Therefore, the pill is the best option because it’s the cheapest way before the kid starts developing. At the best case scenario, this pill is sold over the counter to prevent a failure in teen future.

On the other side of the story, many support the sex ed talks to prevent these cases. There is no pill needed since these mistakes can be prevented even before having sex. According to Profamilia, “To date, the best way to effectively reduce teen pregnancy rates has been through the combination of comprehensive sex education and free and easy access to contraceptive methods”. Unfortunately, is arduous since most countries don’t have access to education. Once, I had an appointment with a doctor who commented that most people don’t have access to sexual education because of economic situations and lack of knowledge. She had a consult and the patient boiled the condom in water and drank it instead of using it appropriately. This talks can be effective, but there is not enough budget to cover its worldwide, the best option to consider is not performing the activity or simply buying the morning-after pill.

This pill can change the world because mistakes are made and some are unable to erase. A kid is no joke, a child is a huge responsibility that parents have a hard time dealing with, just imagine a kid in this position. It’s better to prevent and change than pass by it and have a life of weight and regrets.