A controversial scheme has been has been launched on the Isle of Wight which will allow girls as young as 13 to obtain the contraceptive pill from pharmacies without their parents’ consent, or without seeing a doctor.
The new scheme will also allow teenagers who approach a chemist for the morning-after pill to get a month’s supply of the contraceptive pill without seeing a doctor or informing their parents.
The scheme provides that, during the process of giving emergency contraception to a teenage girl, the pharmacist would discuss the side effects and possible complications of contraception, provide advice on sexually transmitted infections, make a referral to the island’s sexual health service and provide a month's supply of the pill.
The Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust says the scheme, which involves a third of the island's chemists, will reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.
However, critics of the scheme say the Trust is being “irresponsible”. Christian groups and politicians also have warned it could promote promiscuity.
Island MP, Tory Andrew Turner, said:
"How can adults bring up their children if their children can go into a shop, more or less, and be handed over something which is so significant?
“We expect parents to take responsibility for their children. They are undermined if the NHS hands out contraceptives to girls with no medical examination or consideration of their circumstances. Underage sex is illegal and dangerous.”
Mr Turner is planning to take the matter up with Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.
The Reverend Anthony Glaysher, from the Catholic diocese of Portsmouth, said it “fundamentally attacked the family”.
On 2 September 2010, a House of Commons debate on the Sex and Relationships Education Bill brought to light figures:
“There are some very depressing facts on teenage pregnancy. In 2008, there were 41,325 conceptions to girls under the age of 18 and 7,577 to girls under the age of 16. Of the conceptions among girls under 18, 42.4% went on to have abortions. For the girls under 16, the figure was 52.9%. We would all agree that that is an unacceptable situation for our society. Even more distressing, in 2007, 369 girls under the age of 14 became pregnant.”
In May 2010, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), a Government’s regulatory public health body, advised teenagers and young women that they should stockpile the morning-after pill in case they fall in unwanted pregnancies. The controversial statement was made despite the fact there is no evidence that advance access to emergency contraception brings down pregnancy rates.
Sources
Sky News
Daily Telegraph
BBC News
Press Association
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