Birth Control
Abstinence • Condoms • IUD • "The Pill" (Oral Contraception) • Morning-After Pill (Emergency Contraception) • "Abortion Pill" (RU-486)
The Center is not a contraceptive service clinic and does not dispense birth control; however, our counselors are prepared to talk with you about different issues concerning relationships and sexual health. We can also give medically accurate information about STDs and the associated risks. Read below for some more information about various types of birth-control:
Abstinence
There can be no argument over the best, the healthiest, and the most consistently effective form of birth control. This method also provides complete protection from sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, astoundingly, it costs no money, and has proven itself 100% successful to all the people who have practiced it. Abstinence. That's right!
Abstinence, in this context, means refraining from all sexual activity. Sexual activity is defined as sexual intercourse (or sex), as well as other actions intended to result in sexual arousal or gratification. Thus, sexual activity includes vaginal, anal, and oral sex, but would also include things like masturbation, fondling another's genitals, viewing of pornography, etc.
Every time you have sex, regardless of whether it's your first time or not, you are placing yourself in a dangerous situation that could change your life forever. This is why one study reported that over half of all teens that had sex at least once reported that they wish they had waited.
The only truly "safe sex" is to save sex until you are in the committed, lifelong relationship of marriage. There are at least six compelling reasons to wait until marriage before engaging in sexual activity.
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The risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease.
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The risk of unplanned pregnancy.
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Condoms are an unreliable protection against disease and pregnancy.
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Sex is powerfully bonding to a couple.
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Sex outside of marriage is damaging to relationships.
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There are many significant rewards to those who wait.
(To look at each of these reasons to wait in more detail, click here.)
Abstinence is, simply, the healthiest behavior for unmarried individuals.
Condoms
People commonly say that using a condom makes sex safe, but is this really true? What are the risks still involved with 'protected' sex? Can you still get pregnant? Can you still get an STD (sexually transmitted disease)? The unexpected answer: Yes, definitely.
The truth is, even if you use a condom every time you have sex, you're still at risk of becoming pregnant or getting a STD. It is alarming to consider—especially given the widespread distribution of condoms and education regarding condom use in the U.S.— that tens of millions are suffering from STDs, and millions more are infected each year. Click here for more information about the STD epidemic.
Here is something shocking but very important to consider: condoms have the highest pregnancy rate among the most common methods of birth control. Typical use results in 15 out of 100 users getting pregnant each year. And teens have a higher failure rate than adults.
About 3 out of every 20 couples using condoms to avoid pregnancy end up pregnant anyway within the first year of use.
Sexually transmitted diseases are a serious matter. STDs are spread through vaginal, anal, and oral sex. You can have an STD and never know it, passing it on to others too. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that now 85 percent of the most prevalent infectious diseases in the United States are sexually transmitted. The rate of STDs in this country is 50 to 100 times higher than that of any other industrialized nation. Condoms often provide little, partial, or no protection against STDs. Please go here for more information on condoms and STDs.
IUD (Intrauterine Device)
An IUD is put in a woman’s uterus by her doctor. It’s made of flexible plastic. It isn’t known exactly how an IUD prevents pregnancy—it may prevent the sperm from reaching the egg, but it may also prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. IUDs can have some serious side effects. Heavy cramping and bleeding during periods is one common side affect, and there is also the risk of infection.
“The Pill”
Oral contraceptives, or “The Pill,” are small pills that are taken daily, at the same time every day. Two artificial hormones--estrogen and progestin--work to prevent ovulation. They may cause the mucous in your cervix to change, inhibiting sperm transport. They may also change the lining of your uterus to inhibit implantation of an embryo. You should know that if oral contraceptives fail to prevent ovulation, they may prevent implantation instead, causing one of your fertilized eggs to be terminated.
Oral contraceptives provide no protection against STDs, and only remain effective if they are taken correctly, every single day.
Morning-After Pill (Emergency Contraception)
The “Morning-After Pill” is an contraceptive that can be taken within 72 hours of intercourse to prevent pregnancy. The pill is a high dosage of the birth control pill, and when it is used accurately, it prevents or ends pregnancy. Typically the pill comes in a kit including a pregnancy test, pills, and an information book. Here's why a pregnancy test is included--urine pregnancy tests can detect pregnancy no earlier than 7-10 days after conception. So a positive pregnancy test at this point, would indicate that you have already become pregnant from a previous encounter and should not take the morning 
after pill.
Here’s how the pill works. There is variation from brand to brand, but usually there is a series of pills that need to be taken within the first 72 hours, then more pills 12 hours later. These could do one of three things depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle. There is no way to tell which process will take place in your body.
1. Ovulation will be prevented; therefore the sperm will have nothing to fertilize.
2. Ovulation will be delayed.
3. If you have already ovulated, the lining of your uterus will become irritated and not allow a fertilized egg to implant into the uterus.
“Abortion Pill” (RU-486 or Mifepristone)
This medical abortion is used for women who are within 30-49 days from their last menstrual period. This procedure usually requires three office visits. The RU-486, or mifepristone, pills are given to the woman during her first office visit. These pills cut off nutrients to the fetus. Two days later the woman returns to the doctor for a second medication called misprostol. Misoprostol causes contractions to begin, and the uterus will expel the fetus. One more visit will be required to insure that the abortion was complete. If all fetal parts were not expelled, then a surgical abortion (D&C) will be required.