When Birth Control Goes Too Far

"Norplant: A New Contraceptive with the Potential for Abuse." ACLU, January 31, 1994.

http://www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/norplant-new-contraceptive-potential-abuse

Throughout this blog, we’ve discussed various types of birth control, ranging from oral contraceptives to non-surgical alternatives to tubal ligation, but the controversial nature of birth control has been only quickly alluded to thus far. This topic easily creates many differences in opinion about what is appropriate or moral.

Norplant, six silicon capsules that are implanted in a woman’s upper arm and slowly release progestin for five years, is one of the most controversial types of birth control. However, the issues surrounding this method are different from those that traditionally surround contraception. For medications such as Plan B, the opposition often argues in favor of the sanctity of life. They feel that the fetus has a right to live, and the mother does not have the right to take the life of her potential unborn child. However, in Norplant, the controversy does not revolve around the rights of the unborn child. Instead, it involves the rights of the mother to conceive that child. In the early 1990s, Norplant was used by the governments of several states as a method of punishment that borders the line on eugenics. Women who convicted of either child abuse or drug use while pregnant were told that they had to choose between having Norplant implanted or serving time in jail. Other bills that did not pass would have paid women who were below the poverty line if they received the contraception, or taken away their welfare money if they did not.

Because these women are not in situations in which they can make an unbiased decision about whether they want to undergo the insertion of the device, it is unethical for them to be bribed or coerced into using this highly effective method of birth control. As we as a society continue to develop newer and more effective methods of contraception, we should make sure that they are being used for their intended purpose: to prevent unwanted pregnancies, not to control who is allowed to have children.

Photo: http://www.magazine.ayurvediccure.com/what-is-norplant/