Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to think the [now free] morning-after pill for young girls is a dreadful indictment of our permissive society?

108 replies

ftm42 · 01/04/2011 08:22

Just been listening to news on breakfast TV. Quotes as follows [as close as poss]

"...morning after pill prescribed now for free in Wales to under 16s..."

"...highest level of teenage pregnancies in Europe..."

I wonder if there's a link between those 2 quotes?

DUH!!!

Am I alone in thinking that the more you give kids a 'get-out of jail card', the more they'll have sex when they aren't ready? Why can't we teach our kids to

JUST SAY NO!

Accidents happen, they always have, but for goodness sake, in making it easier to get an abortion [that's what it is, let's not beat around the bush here] doesn't it make it easier to get pregnant in the first place as you can always get rid of it. Have we sunk so low to think we can throw it all away and then fix it later by "getting rid".

OP posts:
uniquegeek · 01/04/2011 12:22

Op; how do you propose we stop 13 year olds having sex?

animula · 01/04/2011 12:27

In fact - this is about morning after pill being available without prescription in Wales. It has very little, realistically, to do with a small minority of U-16 girls.

You are seriously getting worked up about absolutely nothing if you are turning it into an angst-fest about U-16 sexuality.

As to the whole thing about U-!6 sex ....

Which girls? Which U-16s?

The average age for first sexual intercourse for majority is still 17.

Early sexual activity is linked to social exclusion.

Instead of getting in a lather about all this, think hard about what it means about poverty and expectations in Britain in early-C20th, and bear in mind that sexuality, like so much in life, is an experience shaped by economics, the social, and politics. So, instead of worrying unnecessarily about what this all means for your children, and getting bent out of shape about morality, and crazy nonsense about "get out of jail free" cards - actually engage with the reality, which impacts on a small, disenfranchised group ... and it would appear from the weird, panic-led language of your OP that their experience is something that you, and your family, have not had a great deal of contact with.

animula · 01/04/2011 12:30

Fucking hell - there is nothing like the spectre of lots of young, poor women having children to make the scared and craven back rapidly away fro the advances of democracy and extension of the recognition of basic human rights, is there?

Voddy · 01/04/2011 12:39

(Gazes admiringly at animula)

habbibu · 01/04/2011 12:39

The thing is, if the OP hasn't even considered cory's first post, surely she should just stop right there and go and get herself an education.

Mamaz0n · 01/04/2011 13:27

dear lord OP you really are a rather stupid and ignorant adult.

I think it would be far more beneficial to society that you just keep your opinions to yourself

Abr1de · 01/04/2011 14:24

'I think it would be far more beneficial to society that you just keep your opinions to yourself'

I don't doubt the MAP has its place (can think of lots of instances when it has to be the most sensible course of action), isn't the point of MN that people can give their opinions? WHy should the OP keep hers to herself?

TheCoalitionNeedsYou · 01/04/2011 14:33

Abr1de - Becasue the OP is an idiot, and though of course idiots are entitled to their opinions, they are ultimatly more noise than signal.

Abr1de · 01/04/2011 15:07

'The Washington Post is the equivalent of the Telegraph.'

Really? My American friends (Democrats, in the main) think of it as being fairly liberal.

beesimo · 01/04/2011 15:09

Scorpetto

Thank you very much for the post you put up regarding what MAP actually is/does I was completely misinformed or prehaps completely misunderstood what it actually did. It is very confusing some of the information out there is obviously incorrect. I expect you think me very ignorant but I am on MMsnet to learn a bit more for my DCs sake. I want to be able to give the best advice I possibly can as they go out into the world.

I will probably try to speak to my lasses about this in the near future as it is not the wicked thing I thought it was, thank you.

expatinscotland · 01/04/2011 15:23

'Really? My American friends (Democrats, in the main) think of it as being fairly liberal.'

Have you seen just what qualifies as conservative there?

It's another breed, mostly.

expatinscotland · 01/04/2011 15:26

Here's just a taste. I'm from Texas, a conservative state.

One year, in a gubernatorial election, a man called Clayton Williams ran on the Republican/Conservative ticket.

This man is on record for having said things like, 'I am Bubba', and, a true classic, 'Rape is like a Texas storm, you may as well just lay back and enjoy it.'

Oh, there's also a lovely Channel 4 documentary called 'The Texas Solution', which is the most accurate thing I think they've ever produced. Featuring the famous murder trial where the defense was 'He needed killin' (yes, the man was found not guilty by a jury of his redneck peers!) and ended with a woman lovingly cocking her rifle saying, 'An armed society is a peaceful society.'

I don't even think they make that brand of conservative here.

Thank fuck.

TheCoalitionNeedsYou · 01/04/2011 15:29

'The Heinlein Doctrine'

Drizzela · 01/04/2011 15:31

Yes ftm42 you are right - what ever next... women being in control of their own reproductive systems?!! Jesus, they'll be letting us vote next!

expatinscotland · 01/04/2011 15:31

And the point is?

orangeeyebrows · 01/04/2011 15:33

can i ask a question as I have no idea about morning after pills

where do the underage people get them from?

if say its a chemist, is there a limit to how young the girl can be i.e. can an 11 year old go in and ask for one

if so, does anyone get alerted that there is an 11 year old (or 9,10,12 etc) asking for contraception?

GetOrfMoiLand · 01/04/2011 15:34

Animula - what a fantastic post.

Deliainthemaking · 01/04/2011 15:35

only a few years ago it was free tyo 19 + and so underagers had to pay, tbh I thought this was more damaging as 13/14 yr old kids don't have that kind of money and will pass on it

in countries like holland, denmark etc children are well educated in these things and has one of the lowest pregnancy rates in the world after muslim state countries.

Drizzela · 01/04/2011 15:38

I think I was atleast 25 before I could make a sensible decision about whether to have sex or not, arguably if I was single again now at 30 I would probably make a few errors of judgement! An under 16 year old women NEEDS a get out opportunity if she makes a mistake!

TheCoalitionNeedsYou · 01/04/2011 15:40

No point really, I'm just showing off that I know that 'An armed society is a peaceful society.' is a quote from Robert Heinlein.

As is much of Libertarian Doctrine being bound up with the techno utopians, and people who think it's cool to say 'grok'.

So I suppose if I have a point it's that Libertarians nicked their ideas from 40s SF ;)

minervamcgonagle · 01/04/2011 15:58

How easy is it for 16 year olds to get the map? If you had a really silly girl could she go and get it every other weekend from different gp's or is it a bit more monitored. I think its a great thing to prevent a teen pregnancy but would worry that some might see it as a contraceptive method.
I dont think you can say a teenager is being 'sensible' for asking for it, sensible would be not having sex in the first place at that age.

Drizzela · 01/04/2011 16:14

'Sensible' would be to teach girls how to love themselves and make good judgements, to respect themselves, how to say 'no', and the implictions and consequences of saying yes. Maybe even go crazy and teach little boys at school about how to respect women as equals and how to take responsibility... I agree that the MAP is cure rather than provention but until we start to equip our girls with what they need in order to plan it is necessary to allow them easy access to a MAP.

ANyway, EVERY woman, no matter what age, has the right to decide if she will reproduce or not.

Birdsgottafly · 01/04/2011 19:20

orangeeyebrows-if a girl under 13 goes for contraceptive advice and says that she is already having sex it is supposted to flag up a child protection issue. The GP would be duty bound to report it. The parents do not have to be informed, the girl would be spoken to in school (incase it was abuse from a family member). GPS and contraceptive clinics can supply them.

seeker · 01/04/2011 19:48

"people who think it's cool to say 'grok'."

I thought I was the only person still alive who thinks it's cool to say "grok"!

Scorpette · 02/04/2011 01:33

Beesimo - I am happy that anything I said was useful to you. There are a lot of myths about things like MAP about and sadly, these are probably much more well-known than the facts. Obviously, taking the MAP isn't ideal (apart from the fact that people should try to use contraception during, not after sex, it isn't 100% effective and can make some women feel ill) but it is no more harmful or 'immoral' than any other form of contraceptive.