Birth control, or contraception, is the prevention of conception or impregnation. There are a variety of methods of birth control available today. Many can be used in conjunction with other methods, providing a greater degree of protection.
There are many different types of contraception. Some of these do not include the use of physical methods but some do. An example of a physical barrier method is a condom.There are two main issues that could be looked at in this argument- Arguments for and against the issue.
“Fertility and human reproduction are among our most complex issues, both medically and ethically. The ever-increasing pace of scientific breakthroughs, developments, and technologies promise to make them even more challenging in the future” 1Contraception- Reducing fertilityThe term “emergency contraception” refers to several contraceptive methods that can be used to prevent pregnancy after sex. These methods include special doses of ordinary birth control pills as well as insertion of an intrauterine device IUD. They offer women an important second chance to prevent pregnancy when a regular method fails, no method was used, or sex was forced.
Research over the past 30 years has shown that these methods are safe and effective. Depending on the method used, emergency contraception can reduce a woman”s risk of becoming pregnant from a single act of intercourse by between 75 and 99 percent. http://www.cecinfo.
org/html/fea-what-is-ec.htmThere are many ways nowadays where technology has allowed us to prevent women becoming fertile. Many can be damaging. People use hormones for contraception.
There are side effects, which can be damaging in within hormones. There are many that cover the same side effects such as P.O.P, Injection and Implants and the Combined Pill.
They all involve side effects such as Headaches, weight gain; tender breasts and they all affect the period.Enhancing fertilityThere are ways of enhancing fertility such as using the IVF treatment. The IVF treatment or In Vitro Fertilisation, is often known as “the test tube baby treatment”. IVF treatment involves placing sperm and eggs together in a culture dish so that fertilisation occurs in the laboratory.
Not all the eggs will be fertilised when mixed with sperm, so to increase your chances of success we stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs at the same time.People who may need to use the IVF treat may be: Women with blocked or damaged fallopian tubes, where the egg may not be able to meet the sperm or make its way into the uterus; Couples where there is a problem with the sperm, i.e. the number of sperm is low, the sperm do not move well, or where there are high numbers of sperm which are not properly formed; Women with ovulatory problems; Women with endometriosis; Couples who have unexplained infertility.
http://www.ivfdirect.com/IVF_treatment/What_is_IVF.htmIssues against controlling human fertilityThere may be many issues on the topic of human fertility.
A big issue is the ethical points of view. This is a big topic in the Catholic church. Catholics are against the view on controlling human fertility. One of their beliefs is that:”Only natural means of birth control are permitted such as the rhythm method and abstinence.
Abortion and artificial insemination are both always seen as wrong- even insemination between husband and wife” 2This belief is because Catholics believe that by using “un-natural” means of birth control, is playing with the natural law of human beings. Another of the Catholics view upon the Natural Law states that:”The natural law purpose of sex is procreation. The pleasure that sexual intercourse provides is an additional blessing from God, intended to offer the possibility of new life while strengthening the bond of intimacy, respect, and love between husband and wife” 3This backs up the statement about only natural means being prohibited for birth control because if sex is only allowed under means of producing children, then this is the only thing it should be used for. This means that if you do not want children, you should not have sex.
By using contraception of barriers apart from natural methods you are committing a sin. Even if it was through sexual abuse or rape, it means the child was meant to be and aborting the child would still be a sin.Another issue against controlling human fertility would be for the younger generation. By being aware that contraceptives are available it may be encouraging people to have sex without a worry.
However, sometime contraceptives do not all work and may result in teenagers becoming pregnant.”Nearly all teen pregnancies are unintended due to failure of methods ofcontraception, but teens thinking they are safe to use” 4This fact backs up the fact because it is encouraging youngsters nowadays to have sex freely. However, this statement proves that not all contraception takes effect on people. Therefore, human fertility shouldn’t be controlled as its encouraging youngsters to have sex.
Issues for controlling human fertilitySecondly, social issues play an important part on birth control. This area splits up into many different topics.The first area would be women’s rights. This is one of the many areas that play a major part.
This is because the two sexes have different views on birth. Both will have a say but women being the bearer of the child will usually have a bigger say on the matter. Sometimes partners disagree where one will say they want a baby, but the other will say they do not. One of the women’s rights state that:”Those who oppose abortion are opposing women”s equality and the idea that women can control their own lives.
“5This is part of the women’s right because women should be able to choose whether they want to have children and not be pressured into it. If people force women into having children, they are not respecting the women’s decision. This argument is for birth control because if women had their say, they could balance whether they wanted to have the baby or not.”Nowadays women are finding it pressured into having babiesbecause they are scared of losing a family but menfear that if they don’t have children, their wives willfeel that they are a waste of time” 6This shows that both sides are equal to fearing the loss of a spouse in a relationship.
The women fear the men and the men fear the women. It also means that their may not be a proper connection between the couple who intend on having a baby.Another Social issue is human rights. Human rights are all about the facts of people and how they feel about birth control.
In china this is looked at strongly. This is because population is extremely high throughout China. Human rights show that the population is currently on an increase but more in third world countries. There is also becoming a food shortage in the world because there is more poverty in the world than there are people affording food.
This means that if the population was yet to rise, poverty would probably start to take over the world and the world may suffer a depression. This would lead to hyperinflation, as people would need to sell things at very high prices to make sure they could afford a living for themselves. Therefore, increasing population is becoming an issue and people would not be against controlling human fertility if it will decrease poverty in the world.”The food scarcity part of the argument debate is an interesting onePeople are hungry because of the population growthAnd food is becoming scarce and also that peopleCannot afford it.
“7This backs up the point that it is in people’s interest to keep fertility down and if it means by controlling fertility then it should be used.”40% of couples of reproductive age do not practice any form of contraception currently. Approximately one half of the one million new pregnancies each day are unintended There is a clear need for the increased use of contraception and a wider choice of contraceptive options” 8This statement also backs up the previous statement because it is showing how people are being affected by the increase in the population. This is why human rights play an important role in this question.
In conclusion the question about fertility being controlled has been unanswered for many years. Many facts may prove that controlling it is a good thing but many facts prove it is also a bad thing. This question will not be able to be answered fully as many different facts make many different views on the issue.
