Writer's Block: Old enough ...
Jul. 20th, 2010 05:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tabular_rasa[Error: unknown template qotd]
Shoot, if a teenager is responsible enough to acquire and pay for birth control on her own, she is acting as an adult anyway and I see no need for other adults to step in and potentially complicate things.
Naturally I would prefer that the parents knew about their teenager's sexual activity and were sympathetic to the teenager and willing to assist him/her in determining appropriate contraception, ensuring s/he was making healthy decisions about his/her body-- but obviously a lot of families do not have the kind of dynamic that makes that possible. There are too many minors who are harmed because their parents naively believe that forbidding the means for safe sex means their children won't have it. For their sake, I think giving minors the right to acquire contraception without permission from their parents is imperative. Consider the alternatives here: Turned away from contraception, sexually active teenagers are not going to go, "Oh well, I guess I'll just lay off 'til marriage, then!" They are still going to have sex, just perhaps less safely /-:
I plan on speaking openly to my someday-children about sexual health and personal responsibility in hopes that when the time comes they will make wise and healthy decisions, and I hope to have the kind of relationship in which they feel comfortable talking to me about sexual issues as they come up. However, I cannot depend on them wanting to go through me to acquire birth control, and so I would want confidential, accessible sources available for them just in case. I would much rather have my children sneaking around but healthy and safe than in trouble because they were afraid to talk to me.
Shoot, if a teenager is responsible enough to acquire and pay for birth control on her own, she is acting as an adult anyway and I see no need for other adults to step in and potentially complicate things.
Naturally I would prefer that the parents knew about their teenager's sexual activity and were sympathetic to the teenager and willing to assist him/her in determining appropriate contraception, ensuring s/he was making healthy decisions about his/her body-- but obviously a lot of families do not have the kind of dynamic that makes that possible. There are too many minors who are harmed because their parents naively believe that forbidding the means for safe sex means their children won't have it. For their sake, I think giving minors the right to acquire contraception without permission from their parents is imperative. Consider the alternatives here: Turned away from contraception, sexually active teenagers are not going to go, "Oh well, I guess I'll just lay off 'til marriage, then!" They are still going to have sex, just perhaps less safely /-:
I plan on speaking openly to my someday-children about sexual health and personal responsibility in hopes that when the time comes they will make wise and healthy decisions, and I hope to have the kind of relationship in which they feel comfortable talking to me about sexual issues as they come up. However, I cannot depend on them wanting to go through me to acquire birth control, and so I would want confidential, accessible sources available for them just in case. I would much rather have my children sneaking around but healthy and safe than in trouble because they were afraid to talk to me.
