“ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is suing the Biden administration over a policy that allows adolescents to access birth control without their parents’ consent, arguing that the rule violates state law requiring guardians to consent to their children’s use of contraceptives.”
This doesn’t look like Freedom.
This looks like CONTROL.
Republicans are against freedom.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/27/texas-teen-birth-control-lawsuit/
@feloneouscat I have a two-sided take on that particular issue.
I'm not sure using *hormonal* birth control in adolescents at a mass scale is a great idea. There may be developmental consequences.
That said, neither condoms nor a copper IUD should have any developmental consequences whatsoever, so should *definitely* be exempted from any "guardian consent" rules.
My hot take is that adolescents should be using condoms and/or, if necessary, copper IUDs instead of hormonal birth control.
🤷🏻‍♀️ I suggest a child as a teen is worse. A child as a child is worse.
Feel free to differ.
@feloneouscat Keep in mind, I'm not agreeing with the position Texas is taking - and I don't want their suit to succeed, in large part because that'd close the door to more nuanced policy crafted with a focus on absolute outcomes rather than conservative ideology.
All I *am* saying is that the ideal policy might actually be a combination of some elements from both positions.
IUDs have there own issues.
@feloneouscat They do, I won't deny that.
However, to my knowledge the adverse events that may accompany (copper) IUD use are overwhelmingly temporary - reversed upon removal of the device.
Developmental impacts of hormonal birth control, on the other hand, may be permanent - including, if animal models are any indication, likely (poorly-understood) effects on brain development (including interfering with prefrontal cortex development, which is very, *very* bad).
eg: https://news.osu.edu/how-hormonal-birth-control-may-affect-the-adolescent-brain/
@feloneouscat I'm not anti-contraception in the slightest; my concern is with the well-being of the population, and there are plenty of warning signs that specifically using hormonal contraception in adolescents at a mass scale may cause (and be causing) significant, largely unrecognized harm.
I think it would be advisable to strongly encourage the use of non-hormonal methods, and discourage the use of hormonal methods, in adolescents until the developmental impacts are better understood.
@feloneouscat I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that assessment - which is why it's awesome that copper IUDs, while lacking the developmental risks of hormonal birth control pills, are actually significantly more effective at preventing pregnancy.
It seems likely that, as a result, encouraging their use should *decrease* teenage pregnancy rates.
They could be cheaper long-term, too; in SK, Canada each Liberte UT looks to cost SaskHealth the equivalent of $40.52 USD. Lasts up to 5-10 yrs.