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Inside+the+pill

Photo Illustration by Olivia Haas

Inside ‘the pill’

Birth control beneficial because of varied use

Birth control comes in many forms and has a multitude of different purposes, but it’s the common belief that all it does is prevent pregnancy.

While that is its most effective use, it does so much more. For some girls at Manhattan High, the only reason they use it is for the beneficial side effects that help them through daily life.

According to Tegan Gagnon, junior, it’s most helpful when she uses Accutane, a vitamin A derivative used to treat acne.

“I take birth control because when I take Accutane you have to have two methods of anti-pregnancy, and one of them is abstinence and the other one is birth control,” Gagnon said. “I also use it to help with menstrual cramps and my acne in general.

While it’s not uncommon to see birth control used for other reasons, its main use is still for preventing pregnancy. According to Planned Parenthood, when the pills are used properly, it’s 99 percent effective, but a more accurate estimate is 91 percent since some women don’t always take the pills on time. They recommend setting alarms as reminders or putting the pills in places where they’re less likely to be forgotten.

“Forgetting pills, losing the pack, not refilling your prescription on time — these are the main reasons why people who take the pill get pregnant,” their website said. “Do whatever works to help you take your pill on time, all the time.”

Photo Illustration by Olivia Haas

 

 

For medication use at school, students must give their medications in their original containers to nurse Robin Mall with parent consent on all medicines along with a doctor’s order for prescribed ones.

“When a student brings medication to me, I enter obviously the name of the medication, how many milligrams, how it’s going to be given and how many doses were submitted,” Mall said. “When the student comes in for that medication, it gets deleted from the number that was brought in initially, and that’s how I can… make sure that the count is accurate.”

Whatever the purpose for using birth control, girls such as Neff and Gagnon understand that its uses are different for every person. It doesn’t matter if it’s to control acne or periods or if the  user wants to lessen their ability of becoming pregnant because in the end all one needs is a prescription.

“It’s not a dangerous drug,” Gagnon said. “There’s no serious side effects besides not getting pregnant and it’s not just for pregnancy. Obviously, I’m thriving.”

 

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