Ethical and Cultural Perspectives of Birth Control

Ethical and Cultural Perspectives of Birth Control

Abstract

Birth control methods are the different measures that are undertaken to regulate the number of children a person should have. These methods come with different views and insights both from an ethical and cultural perspective. This paper is going to formulate and discuss some research questions and prompts about the topic both from a level 1 and level 2 research questions perspectives. The paper will begin with the research question of ethical obstacles affect how the issue is addressed by the medical community. The second research question from the level 1 category will be that of the cultures or societies are most affected by the issue and why. From level 2section, the research question will be that of the effects of birth control pills and contraceptives. After the in-depth discussion and analysis of the research questions, the paper will conclude by looking at the preview the issues, the research questions, the answers, and the overall insights.

 

 

Introduction

Having a lot of children who are more than you can manage to take care of is hectic and not logical. Due to these various governments, institutions and agencies have come up with different ways through which they regulate birth rates(Peoples, 2018). However, these approaches of birth control meet with different receptions both ethically and culturally. Several research questions can be formulated pertaining to the issue of birth control which are level 1 research questions and level 2 research questions. One of the level 1 research questions is: What ethical obstacles affect how the issue is addressed by the medical community? A second level 1 research question is: Which cultures or societies are most affected by the issue? Why? On the level 2 research question one of them is: what are the effects of birth control pills.

Level 1 Research Questions/Writing Prompts

What ethical obstacles affect how the issue is addressed by the medical community?

One of the approaches to birth control is that of conducting abortions. Abortions have some implications where some countries have termed it as legal and some term it as illegal. This depends on the law but sometimes even if it is legal or illegal there some ethical issues that follow it. Some medical community members perform the practices without the consent of the person and that of their family members. The decision of whether to carry out an abortion is not an individual one, and many parties must be involved. In those countries that do not allow the conducting of abortion practices, it is ethically wrong for a doctor or medical practitioner to involve themselves in such actions(Zelop, 2019). This is because it is against the law and the first people who are expected to obey the law are the civil servants and the different professionals where the doctors also belong.

In those countries that abortion is not legal a second reason that can lead to it is that by request by a doctor. There are instances where the ethical perspective can be foregone, and the medical practitioner decides to perform the abortion (Smith et al., 2017). An example is where there is a risk of either the mother or the child must die. The medical community member may decide to save the mother and let the infant die. This is ethically correct because the mother may have another chance to give birth to another one.However, it is also important to note that other instances can force the use of birth control measures such as abortion. One of those instances is those of rape where one gets pregnant against their will and decides not to keep the pregnancy. The ethical perspective of this is that of the agreement and instructions that the medical community receives from the family members or from the patients themselves who require the abortion sevices. In the early year’s abortion was not legal in some states in America but later it was decriminalized by the constitution which applied to all the states.

Which cultures or societies are most affected by the issue? Why?

Several cultures, societies, and religions are against the issue of birth control in the different parts of the world. One culture that is against contraceptives is that of people with African decency. Many African cultures are against and do not believe in the use of birth controls and state that children are blessings. Other use the number of children they have to be a representation of how much wealth they have where the more the children, the more wealthily a person is and vice versa. The introduction of the various methods of birth controls was not welcomed in these cultures and societies, and some termed them as having side effects especially the contraceptives(Zelop, 2019).

Religion has a powerful impact when it comes to contraceptives. For most people, taking birth control will be influenced by your religion. Many religions are all for birth control and contraceptives, while others that are against it.Roman Catholicism is one type of religion that is very anti-contraceptives. The Catholic Church is opposed to all types of artificial contraception. They believe that the best way to prevent pregnancy is abstinence. Protestantism is also a religion which is against birth control. They believe that contraceptives gave people the safety to act upon sex outside the marriage boundary. Additionally, they believe that some birth control measures such as abortion are crimes and are an abomination that is punishable and treated as murder.

Cultures, religions, and societies do not agree with these measures although there are those that are not affected by them. One of them is Hinduism who are not against birth control. They believe in having large families back then, but also small families who needed family planning to have it. They believe it is a positive ethical function. Islam is also a religion that does not oppose birth control. Muslim scholars would research and develop birth control methods which were then taken to Europe (Austin Cline). Sikhism and Taoism also supported birth control. Religions like these stated believed that it was essential to adequately plan for a family for them to be strong and healthy. Buddhism also does not oppose birth control. They believe that the worst one can do to have an abortion. Also, Christian churches are starting to believe that contraceptives may have a positive outcome for family planning, making it a moral good.

Level 2 Research Question/ Writing Prompt

What are the effects of birth control pills and contraceptives?

Up until the 1960s, the rhythm and barrier contraceptives were the only available methods of birth control (Smith et al., 2017). Oral contraceptives were introduced to help solve the problem of unwanted pregnancies. Birth control pill plays an imperative role in the reproductive and overall health of women.  Due to the increase and acceptance of the modern family planning methods, the desired number of children per family within the U.S. is now 2 (Grindlay, & Grossman, 2016). While most women who use the birth control experience no side effects, oral contraceptives are known to carry some risks. The birth control pill works by providing hormones that prevent a woman from ovulating during her menstrual cycle.

Because of the effect of the birth control pill in the body is to change hormonal imbalance, some women are likely to experience bleeding between periods, migraine, headaches, nausea and carcinoma. Like all medications, birth control pills depict these side effects but occur between 2 and three months (Petitti, 2017).  Research studies show that there is a high relationship between oral contraceptive and squamous carcinoma of the cervix in women.  Many of these researches aim to find the effects of birth control pills while they seek to determine the relationship between oral contraceptive and carcinoma in women(Grindlay, & Grossman, 2016). Birth control pills and contraceptives might be a good and recommendable way to control the rates at which people give births, but the aftermath is fatal where one may develop some complications due to their overuse.

Conclusions

The topic of birth controls is absorbed using different angles and varies from both ethical and cultural perspectives. Several research questions may arise both from Level 1 and level 2 Research Question/ Writing Prompt. One of the research questions from level 1 is that of the ethical issues that arise from the medical community. A second research question under this would be that of the different cultures and societies that might be affected by the issue of birth control measures. On the level 2 Research Question/ Writing Prompt one question that arises is that of the effects of the birth control pills and contraceptives. With all these questions to be researched on, one would be in an excellent position to understand all the issues related to the ethical and cultural perspectives of birth control methods. Some religions and communities accept and agree with the issue of birth control while others are against it and term it as an abomination and taboo.

 

 

References

Petitti, D. B. (2017). Combination estrogen-progestin oral contraceptives. New England Journal   of Medicine349(15), 1443-1450.

Smith, J. S., Green, J., De Gonzalez, A. B., Appleby, P., Peto, J., Plummer, M., … & Beral, V.      (2017). Cervical cancer and use of hormonal contraceptives: a systematic review. The           Lancet361(9364), 1159-1167.

Grindlay, K., & Grossman, D. (2016). Prescription birth control access among US women at risk  of unintended pregnancy. Journal of Women’s Health25(3), 249-254.

Zelop, C. M. (2019). Vaginal birth after cesarean delivery. Evidence‐based Obstetrics and             Gynecology, 419-430.

Peoples, W. (2018). We’re Way “Beyond Birth Control.” Feminist Perspectives on Advertising:     What’s the Big Idea? 287.

 
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