New World Order

This article explores contraception and the importance of it in our world today. It looks at the positive and negative impacts that are associated with three factors: Economical, Environmental and Ethical. Contraception plays such a significant role in our world today because it impacts our world’s population, and it sparks an insightful discussion on the intention and necessity of contraception.

Contraception is an innovative and artificial practice that is deliberately used to prevent pregnancy. In today’s day and age, contraception is a useful and widely practised method for avoiding pregnancy as a result of sexual intercourse. Significant forms of contraception are; birth control, condoms, morning-after pills, femidoms etc. The use of contraception is intentional, and several different kinds of contraception serve the same purpose. Contraceptives can have a combination of both positive and negative differing impacts on economical, ethical and environmental factors. Various contraceptive methods utilize synthetic hormones to prevent fertilization. The release of external hormones impedes the egg from entering the uterus lining; therefore, the egg cell will cease to exist, preventing fertilization. This article will explore the distinct implications and significance of contraceptives in today’s time. As the importance of contraception in understood and it is used more and more it creates an abstruse and profound contribution to both economic and environmental aspects.

Through the use of contraceptives, positive economic implications stem. All women have the foundational right to determine their reproductive future. Contraceptives are the solution to recognizing the impact women have on the global economy. The usage of contraceptives has a direct connection to increasing time in school for women and girls as well as raising their pay at work. In many countries, although the government regulates paid maternity leaves, the employers have to pay for the maternity leave. Therefore they can have a massive impact on the mother’s financial stability as maternity leaves usually last for around ten weeks. On a global scale, a combination of cultural and legal obstacles prevent approximately 865 million women from making a more significant and more profound contribution to their national economies. 831.1 million of those women live in more economically developed countries. In these developing countries, about 25% of women want to prevent their pregnancy but don’t have access to, or don’t use contraceptives. Hypothetically, if all the women had the choice to choose when they wanted to have children, there would be a 40% increase in wages and a 20% increase in time in school. Statistics in the United States indicate that for every 1 US Dollar invested in family planning, the United States sees double that amount of money in savings for various other international development programs. The use of contraceptives can help aid the economy drastically; the abundance and knowledge of contraception can transform and change the contribution in our economies.

Not only do contraceptives have a transforming effect on the global economy, but they also stem negative impacts on the environment. Various conventional contraceptive methods are made from harmful materials such as silicon, rubber, and polyurethane, some take up to more than 500 years to decompose. The process of manufacturing silicon is associated with mining because mining creates damage towards biodiversity in the environment, the contamination in the soil and ground can heavily affect the environment. Silicon dioxide creates a byproduct - carbon monoxide, a greenhouse gas detrimental to our climate and environment. Although condoms are biodegradable, some chemicals alter the decomposition process of the condoms, making it non-environmentally friendly. Four hundred fifty million condoms are sold in the United States each year, generating a large amount of waste. Natural rubber and polyurethane are few of the more sustainable materials, they don’t contribute to pH change in soil or water, and their properties make them a sustainable product. Moreover, contraceptives are used on a vast global scale, hence, can be very detrimental towards the environment over-time.

Looking at ethical perspectives in terms of contraception suggest different beliefs towards the idea of using contraception as a method to prevent pregnancy. Arguments based on institutional order indicate that the natural result of sexual intercourse is conceiving a child; it is believed that interfering with this process is wrong and unnatural. This belief and theory intertwine with religious principles that concern sexual intercourse. Another perspective highlighted in this ethical debate is that contraception is anti-life, this idea is through the understanding that when using contraception the intention is to prevent new life, therefore morally there are bad intentions associated with using contraception. Abortion is a concept that is closely linked to contraception. In fact, some also believe that contraception is, in fact, a form of early abortion, such as the use of the morning-after pill, which prevents implantation of a fertilized egg. However, this is scientifically inaccurate. The function of the morning-after pill is to delay your ovary in releasing an egg, as well as barricading the sperm from reaching the egg cell. If the sperm cell has already fertilized the egg, then the pill won’t work. Ethically, stereotypes also play a role in preventing the contribution a woman makes to the economy. Studies have shown that companies are less willing to give pregnant women a job due to their maternity leaves.

Upon examination of the positive and negative economic, ethical and environmental implications of contraception, we can deduce that contraception is a highly effective method to prevent pregnancy. At the same time, it can also be a transforming solution to overpopulation in many countries. However, it does come with negative implications that affect various other aspects of our world. Economically, contraception can modify the entire economy, and create a huge definite increase to the global economy. Comparatively, contraceptives are relatively environmentally friendly, changes in the manufacturing process can help to develop methods that are sustainable and positive for the environment. In conclusion, contraception is growing and making an effective impact on our world.