Advantages of birth control pills

By Shin Dong-min

Five years ago was the 50th anniversary of the invention of the birth control pill. After it came into the world, it brought enormous change to women’s lives ― it releases them from unwanted pregnancy. Around the world, there are 100 million women taking the pill to prevent conception. Still, according to a UN report and Johnston’s Archive, the administration rate of birth control pills in Korea from 2000 to 2009 was below 2 percent; and the abortion rate in 2010 was 15.8 percent.

If women take them correctly, the pill guarantees up to 99.9 effective. Nevertheless, why don’t Korea women take the pill? It is time for them to go on the pill to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancies.

Korean women have a bad impression of the contraceptive pill because they have misunderstandings about it. From their perspective, the pill could make them fat, cause sterility and even cancer. However, the information shows that that is not true.

According to Women’s Health, when the pill was first invented, it had a higher level of estrogen (100-175 micrograms) compared to the pills used today (20-50 micrograms). Since it was revealed that the weight gain was related to the high dose, the pill formulations were changed so as not to result in weight gain.

The report also says that the myth of infertility is not about the pill but about the time when they stop taking the pill. Women using the pill as a form of contraception may delay childbearing until their late 30s, a time when their natural fertility has declined. When these women go off the pill and experience difficulty in getting pregnant they think the pill has made them infertile when, in fact, the problem is age-related.

The rumor of the pill causing cancer turned out to be wrong and it has been shown that it actually decreases the risk of the development of some cancers. Women who take the pill have less chance of developing cancer of their ovaries and of the endometrium (the lining of the uterus).

Since the contraceptive was released in 1960, women have been able to plan their own lives. They can decide when to have a baby, which means if they want they can put off pregnancy to more focus on their work.

The birth control pill is considered one of the greatest ways in which women can take control of their lives. However, if we look at the statistics of abortion rates and administration rates of the birth control pill in Korea, it seems that only Korean women do not take the positive effects from it.

In fact, their fear of the pill is vague, which comes from a lack of information. For example, there are no comprehensive sex education classes at middle and high school, and university where few women’s centers supplying information about planning pregnancy can be found. And, if there are such centers, women are reluctant to go there because of social stigma.

There are now higher risks from unwanted pregnancies than those from taking the pill. Currently, women who have put themselves at risk of getting pregnant either rush to a pharmacy for the morning after pill or use abortion as a tool of birth control. The pill is far superior to those two; and so it is time for Korean women to see how empty the myths about the pill are, and to learn the real advantages of having control of their bodies by taking it.

The writer is a senior majoring in English linguistics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Write to dminshin@gmail.com.