Reasons why birth control pills should not be sold over the counter or without prescription

 

 

Introduction

            Birth control pills are drugs used to prevent conception among women of reproductive age. They mainly help to prevent cases of unwanted pregnancy incase of unprotected sexual intercourse. This idea of using the birth control pills containing synthetic female hormones to regulate ovulation and prevent conception was first introduced in 1920s and it was approved in 1960s by the Food and Drug Administration of United States of America. The practice of using these drugs over counter is dangerous as there can be many risks associated with the practice health risks being one of them. Therefore, selling these pills without prescription or over the counter should be avoided. One should access them from a health facility or get a doctor’s prescription in order to avoid the risks associated with them.

            One of the reasons why selling the birth control pills over the counter should be avoided is to prevent the health risks associated with the usage. These pills causes increased rate of blood clotting in the circulatory system. The clots eventually complicate to stroke and heart attack, conditions mainly seen in women above 40 years (Zonderman et al., 2006). The risk is greatly increased with cigarette smoking women.  It is therefore recommended that one should get prescription before purchasing the control birth pills as they can be contraindicating to the health.

Increase of irresponsible sexual behaviors is another reason why over the counter drug usage of the birth control pills should be discouraged. The increase in these behaviors has led to increase in spread of sexually transmitted diseases. A coalition of conservative lawmakers led by Republican Dave Weldon claimed that the easier access to the pills has increased the cases of unsafe sex especially among teenagers (Harrison, 2015). The fact that the teenagers are in the position to easily access the birth control pills, they ended up being involved in sexual behaviors recklessly having in mind that they are already protected.  They end up contracting other sexually transmitted diseases unconsciously. Due to this reason, the usage of over the counter birth control pills should be avoided especially among the teenagers.

            Finally, the reason as to why the usage of birth control pills over the counter should be discouraged is because majority of the users might lack the knowledge on their mechanism of action (White 2009). The fact that the pills are used to prevent pregnancy, they can however lead to unintended abortions if used after fertilization has occurred. In many cases when the pills are taken after fertilization, they end up interfering with the fertilized ova in the reproductive system resulting into abortion as the integrants formed by the endometrial lining undergoes changes making it more difficult for the unborn child to implant. The current data of microscopic, macroscopic and immunological level strongly supports that the over the counter drugs causes early abortion hence the usage of over the counter pills should be avoided.

Conclusion

            Selling of birth control pills over the counter should be avoided as it is associated with various effects like blood clotting which eventually complicates to life threatening conditions like stroke and deep venous thrombosis. There are also increased cases of early abortion due to knowledge deficiency on their mechanism of action of the pills among the users. There are also many cases of irresponsible sexual behaviors among the teenagers due to the ability to access the drugs easily over the counter. It is therefore recommended that selling of birth control pills over the counter or without the prescription should be avoided.

 

 

Reference

Maisto, S. A., Galizio, M., & Connors, G. J. (2011). Drug use and abuse. Belmont, CA:   Wadsworth.

Zonderman, J., Shader, L., & Triggle, D. J. (2006). Birth control pills. New York: Chelsea           House.

 White, J. E. (2009). Contemporary moral problems. Australia: Thomson Wadsworth.

Harrison-Woolrych, M. (2015). Medicines For Women. Cham : Springer International Publishing            : Imprint: Adis