|
DesideriScuri -> RE: End ABSTINANCE "education"! ( Since it's not science and all... ) (1/5/2014 12:34:09 PM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: MsMJAY
People decide for themselves what "having sex" means. WebMD cannot quantify a belief system.
Okay, Clinton.
Does everyone get to decide how a pregnancy happens, too?
quote:
Choice is the whole point. Whatever you choose is your method of birth control no matter how well or not well you use it.
Part of the problem here is that you look at birth control the way most men do. All you have to do is put on a rubber so you can count each separate event as whether or not you were using birth control. I look at it the way most women do. For most BC methods we can't count every instance of sexual contact as using birth control or not using it. Every method I have ever used had to be already in place several days (to several weeks) ahead of any sexual activity and had to be used continuously (much like abstinence). So I am using the pill even if I skip a day. Skipping days is considered part of the way I use it and adds to or takes away from its effectiveness when it is evaluated.
All methods of birth control (even condoms) are evaluated this way. Not just if you use it, but how you use it. Improperly using contraceptives (skipping a day, putting it on wrong, or doing things that counteract it) are always counted as part of that contraceptive's failure rate. If you want to call abstinence birth control it has to be evaluated the same way every other method is evaluated. Those days you skip it or improperly use it or do things that counteract it are counted towards its failure rate. The same as every other form of birth control.
Now you may not evaluate it that way, but if you are going to accurately and scientifically try to compare it to other forms of birth control you cannot give it a different set of standards. It has to be evaluated by the same standards or there is no basis for comparison.
I believe one of the main reasons that abstinence education does not work is because they are trying to sell it as a birth control method rather than a belief system. As a birth control method it sucks. I believe it would have a much better success rate if they actually presented it as a wholistic belief system which is really what it takes for abstinence to work. It can't be something you choose to do. It has to the way you choose to live.
Abstaining from sex, is nothing more than not having sex. Abstinence is a choice each and every time you have to choose to have sex or not. Abstaining today does not mean you can't have sex, or you can't use another method tomorrow.
Here's the standard for comparison: Used properly, is condom use during sex more or less effective at preventing pregnancy than abstinence (not having sex)?
If you have sex without a condom tonight, will your risks of pregnancy be higher, lower, or the same as every other time you have sex, if you use a condom every other time?
Is there any risk of getting pregnant while on the pill?
Which is more important in not getting pregnant... being on the pill, or not having sex?
You defining abstinence as a "belief system" is all well and good... for you. Abstinence, is, however, a choice to not have sex, and has to be chosen each time the option comes up, just like a barrier method. Chemical methods do tend to require consistent use, but, again, that is a choice. You can decide to not use the pill or some other chemical method. Personally, I got snipped. Outside of my primary partner, I will use a condom, but not to prevent pregnancy.
Does your risk of getting pregnant from engaging in sex depend on how many times you use protection while engaging in sex, or from that particular engagement?
|
|
|
|
