50th Anniversary of The Pill Sparks a Discussion by Young Women at FFS
By Jajce W. and Jillian M.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill and the many other forms of contraception that have originated since the 1960s.
Mass produced artificial birth control entered the scene in the 1960s and started a revolution. Women had more control and they felt freer to make their own decisions about their sex lives.
Many women and young girls are unwilling to take on the responsibility of having a kid but they want to indulge in having sex without any consequences, and the pill makes that possible.
Since the introduction of the pill, the ideas of sex and marriage have changed and are often used to justify the desires of our minds. For many women it has become unclear what is right and wrong when it comes to birth control.
The issue of the pill is a problem in today’s world and being at the school leaves many young women with ideas and feelings that they never talk about. Some of the girls at The Family Foundation School decided to form a group to discuss those feelings about the pill.
The group consisted of eight young women and was led by Wilson House family leader, Christine Speicher. The girls were interested in hearing all sides of the debate and sought people they knew who had strong opinions on the issue.
FFS is all about showing young people who have fallen off their path a way to a better life. The school is based on the 12-step program of the Anonymous Fellowships. The school also works with the Four Absolutes; love, honesty, purity, and unselfishness.
The young women who attended the group have developed these principles and have new moral guidelines for themselves.“I believe that there is a huge range between having sex with whomever and waiting until you are married and committed. I wouldn’t want to have a child until I am married; however, birth control presents a good alternative to abortion,” said Kate D.
There are so many different opinions in the world today about birth control that the girls in the group found themselves uncertain about what is right. A lot of young women come to the school with no religious interest at all but they wind up developing a sense of security within a religious framework.
Father Stephen, Dean of FFS Students, expressed his ideas on birth control. “This is a very explosive topic and it’s very easy to get people angry. When priests speak about these kinds of things people often have very powerful reactions. For example, ‘What does he know, he’s not even married?’
“The Family Foundation School is over 30 years old and I’ve been here for 15. More than 3000 young people have passed through this school, and I’ve witnessed the increasing depth of damage in young women because artificial contraception sends the message, ‘Baby, you’ve got to be available to me sexually 24 hours a day, just make sure you don’t get pregnant.’
“Many girls surrender their thinking and wind up exploited, demoralized, and depressed. I wish there were a great uprising of young women who would say we’re done with this.
“There are new forms of contraception that slow down a women’s cycle so that she only has her period four times a year. I don’t even really know how to speak about this. At the end of a commercial a number of women say about their monthly period: ‘Who says you have to have a period every month?’ Who says, who says!
I mentioned this to my own physician who immediately responded, nature says. I think that this is an insult to women; it doesn’t let them be who they are. I also don’t get how in this green time, natural everything time, how women can allow themselves to be so altered by putting chemicals, plastic, and copper in their systems. I would also say that so much of what women are expected to do and be is created by men. The cosmetic industry, the diet industry, and the contraception industry are all created, regulated, and promoted by men,”
In addition to the Church’s view, there are many other opinions about the pill in today’s society. During their stay at FFS many young women develop a new perspective and find their ideas pertaining to the prevention of pregnancies changing. The carelessness that the girls exhibited in their pre-Family School environment caused them to make decisions that impacted their lives. Many of them acted out sexually when they were miserable or needed attention and acceptance. However, since arriving at the school they have begun to understand their sexual activity for what it was.
“Why use birth control when you’re not ready for a child? Sex isn’t bad but it’s all about the motive behind it,” said Raven S.
There are also different motives for taking the pill. Some women use it to regulate their period, to clear up their complexion, and some use it to reduce menstrual cramps; however, preventing pregnancies is the pill’s main use. “Birth control[with the pill] is an easy, fast solution, and in some cases, when young couples choose to get married, the pill helps them until they grow secure in wanting to start a family,” said Emily M.
The pill has both ups and downs. It enables our laziness when we desire to have sex but it also protects young women from taking on the sometimes unwanted responsibility of a child. The pill also hinders nature from taking its course. Women can get pregnant, but if you’re not ready to make a child a part of your life, should you indulge in the action behind it? The decision to take birth control is an external debate, but for the women who are on the pill, the answer lies within.
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