Denying birth control sends wrong message (OPINION)

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virginiagarcia.png Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center provides healthcare services to more than 42,000 patients a year in Washington and Yamhill counties at five primary care clinics and pharmacies, five dental offices, and six school-based health centers. The nonprofit also provide outreach to schools, community health fairs and to migrant and seasonal farmworkers at local camps and commercial nurseries through its mobile clinic.

(Virginia Garcia)

By Mary Nolan

In 2016, it's unbelievable that access to birth control is still being debated, let alone denied. It's a simple fact that birth control is important, safe, preventive health care for young women. Nearly all sexually active American women use birth control at some point in their lives for a whole host of reasons, and nearly 60 percent of pill users rely on it at least in part for reasons other than contraception.

Yet last month, four men on the Hillsboro School Board voted to prohibit birth control access at the health center that serves its high school students. All three women on the board are living in the 21st century and believe students are more likely to make responsible decisions for their own health and safety when all their options are equally available.

The teen pregnancy rate in Oregon has plummeted from 105 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 in 1988 to just 47 now. We should celebrate this trend, even as we must acknowledge the startling fact that the teen pregnancy rate in Oregon and the United States is still much higher than most of the industrialized world. We also must address significant disparities to ensure all young people have the information and resources they need to delay sexual activity until ready, to prevent disease and to prevent unintended pregnancy.

The good news is that we know what works to prevent teen pregnancy. Research shows that comprehensive sex education helps young people delay sexual activity and increases the use of contraception and condoms when they become sexually active.

It is deeply disappointing that the men on the Hillsboro School Board chose to place right-wing scare tactics ahead of the health and safety of the students they serve.

As Hillsboro School Board member Lisa Allen told The Oregonian/OregonLive, "Within the boundaries of (the Hillsboro School District), there are 156 pregnancies each year, for high-school-aged young women, and approximately 135 of these pregnancies result in abortion. Seventy-seven percent of those young women were not accessing contraceptives. The evidence clearly shows that allowing access to family planning services drastically decreases these numbers."

One of the proposals under consideration would have allowed birth control prescribing, but only after a health professional notified the student's parent. In a family that lacks open communication, the last thing a young woman needs is a complete stranger telling her parents that she's sexually active. As Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., pointed out: "Some students won't or can't talk with their parents about contraceptives, and those students should still have the option to speak with their health care provider and access care without facing additional barriers to getting or filling a prescription."

All young people deserve the sex education and health care they need to stay healthy. When adults in positions of authority knowingly impose restrictions that ignore public health guidelines or violate state law, young people don't learn to respect or rely on those adults. They learn that they have to look out for themselves. They learn that clinging to an outdated image of the "good old days" matters more than their health and future.

Wouldn't we -- and our high school students -- be better served with a policy and practice of accurate information, support in delaying pregnancy until after completing high school, and respect for taking responsibility to prevent disease?

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Mary Nolan is the executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon. For more information visit PPAOregon.org.

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