SotA Anthology 2019-20 | Page 20

Josie Calvert
contraception ? Furthermore , it would be ignorant to bypass the contraception needs in other countries . In countries , such as the United States that aren ’ t lucky enough to receive longer-term contraception on the NHS have to pay for their contraception methods themselves or through insurance . Therefore , we can assume that the cost of this is weighted onto women . If they are unable to pay this , they are forced to either pay thousands for an abortion or potentially millions in raising a child .
So , what are the possible options ? Hopes for a male contraceptive pill have increased after a trial showed a once-daily capsule appeared to work with no significant side-effects . The drug works by suppressing levels of hormones that drive the production of sperm and testosterone in the testes . This would render them temporarily infertile until the effects wear off . Another option is a male contraceptive injection , developed by research team in India . It contains a chemical which inhibits sperm production , rendering the man infertile for thirteen years . This had a 97.3 % success rate amongst participants in the medical trial . However , this presents some problems such as the lengthy time the injection causes sterilisation and the mild side effects such as acne and mood changes . However , the effects are reversible at any given time and the side effects are no more severe than what women are forced to go through when having IUD insertions or going on the pill . Although , it can be argued that long-term contraceptive methods do not prevent STI ’ s , the same could be said about the pill and coil and therefore should be aimed more towards men in long-term relationships .
What is a potential obstacle when integrating long-term male contraception into society ? One study conducted research into the attitudes of males and birth control stating ; “ there was a statistically significant relationship found between two variables indicating that men who tend to assign contraceptive responsibility to women have more negative attitudes toward male contraceptive use ”. Therefore , it can be said that these negative male attitudes could be discouraging the demand for its development . However , this is a poor excuse as society has never been more liberal and open when talking about and acting upon sexual health . Male contraception has simply not been given the opportunity to become normalised . So , of course it will appear alien and unappealing to a small group of participants in a medical trial and is therefore , not representative to males as a whole .
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