# What's your solution to a million unwanted pregnacies occurring as a result of protected sex? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 26, 2009, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156 "2009-10-26T10:14:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/41 "2009-10-26T18:32:06Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Couldn’t we take care of some of this problem if we just found a way to discourage people from having sex, protected or unprotected? If there was a really reliable method to discourage people from having sex, it probably would have been discovered already. > [@Algorithm](#): > > Harvest some sperm first for elective fertilization at a later date, and sterilize all men when they reach sexual maturity. Personal freedoms are only increased And people wondered where George Orwell got his ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/42 "2009-10-26T18:33:11Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If there was a really reliable method to discourage people from having sex, it probably would have been discovered already. > And people wondered where George Orwell got his ideas. We have always been at war with testicles. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/43 "2009-10-26T18:38:55Z")
> [@SmartAlx](#): > > What is your solution to this dilemma? Two things: First, I’m not entirely certain that you have established that it is, in fact, a dilemma. Second, I think the thread has enough responses that it’s fair to ask you to show your cards: What’s _your_ solution? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/44 "2009-10-26T19:02:11Z")
> [@SmartAlx](#): > > Well that is exactly what I advocate about unplanned pregnancies. Maybe we can’t reach zero, but we should do whatever we can to get that number as low as possible, especially for women who are not prepared or able to raise a child, as Diogenes said. I think “whatever we can” seems a bit too strong. A lot, certainly, but not whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/45 "2009-10-26T19:13:23Z")
To the OP: **Better Parenting** ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/46 "2009-10-26T20:21:55Z")
More affordable, safer, and accessible abortions ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/47 "2009-10-26T21:09:09Z")
Abortions are the obvious answer to unwanted pregnancies. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/48 "2009-10-26T21:17:58Z")
Oh, but let’s get real: air bags are not the best way to reduce auto crashes; and abortions aren’t the best way to reduce unwanted pregnancies. Both have their place, but the better strategy would be to make accidents (of either kind) increasingly rare. How is that accomplished? Good question. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SmartAlx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/49 "2009-10-26T21:18:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If there was a really reliable method to discourage people from having sex, it probably would have been discovered already. Sure it has. In fact 40 years ago there was a method discovered to ENCOURAGE people to have sex more freely! The sexual revolution. The answer is to go back to the way we were before the sexual revolution. We lost our respect for sex. If you don’t believe me that sex attitudes have changed ask yourself this, “would they have allowed girls gone wild commercials on TV in 1969?” Shoot, the entire sexually charged spring break tradition wouldn’t have been possible without a change in our attitudes towards sex. These days it’s assumed that a dating couple that has been together a few weeks is having sex. That is far too fast. Maybe you are an exception but it’s reality for most young Americans. The media definitely doesn’t help in this regard. Every sitcom portrays dating couples having sex. There are two answers here. Fix the problem at the end (FORCED abortions - since it’s obvious that voluntary abortions aren’t working - globally) and/or fix the problem at its source, get people (men AND women) to stop having sex so much. Sex is too important today. The numbers demonstrate it. Abortion is unnatural. If we allowed nature to take its course, we would be up to 7,8 billion people by now. And it would only get worse as population exploded. Shoot, it’s exploding now WITH abortion. If abortion is the solution, then explain why population is not under control. Nature never intented us to behave like rabbits. And yes, it is definitely a problem. Project these numbers forward by, say, 100 years. And we should then include the global population and people who don’t use contraceptives too, as well as people who plan their pregnancies. Will we be talking about a population of 10 or 15 billion? Possibly more? I would guess that 20 billion is quite possible in 100 years. How many people can the planet sustain? Yes, the population growth is not out of control in America, as it is in China and India. But we have a different set of problems. We already know about them. Again, voluntary abortion isn’t working now. Do you think it’s going to work in the future when we get into serious difficulty because of overpopulation, or are we going to have to force them onto women? Seriously, what other solution is there? We HAVE to change our attitudes towards sex. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/50 "2009-10-26T21:25:11Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > More affordable, safer, and accessible abortions Yep. This plus more affordable, safer, and accessible birth control and better sex ed. The pill is available OTC in some countries. Unless that’s genuinely a major health risk, it should be available OTC in the US, too. Putting barriers (um, no pun intended) between users and birth control means fewer users. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/51 "2009-10-26T21:33:25Z")
> [@SmartAlx](#): > > Nature never intented us to behave like rabbits. Maybe it did (as much as you can say Nature intends anything, which I don’t think you can), but it didn’t intend for us to live as long as we do now. People were having lots of kids for a long time, but until recently things like epidemic diseases held world population in check. > [@](#): > > Again, voluntary abortion isn’t working now. How is it not working? The US total fertility rate is around replacement level right now. Japan and many European countries have below-replacement fertility rates. All of this without forced abortions or required use of birth control. OTOH, China does coerce its people into having fewer children. Its total fertility rate is (while still below replacement) higher than that in some European countries that don’t practice any such coercion. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/52 "2009-10-26T21:33:50Z")
Nonsense. Abortion is a perfectly straightforward solution. It’s a cheap and simple medical procedure. Another solution is to make birth control free and freely available to anyone over the age of 16. I agree with have to change our attitude toward sex - but in other direction. We need to accept that it’s a perfectly normal act of nature and stop mystifying it or refusing to talk about it. Parents should support their teens in learning healthy sex behavior. As far as it being ‘unnatural’ - I would remind you that in nature, mothers who are too stressed and don’t want to continue their pregnancy either reabsorb the embryos into their bodies or eat their young. Compared to that, abortion is an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SmartAlx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/53 "2009-10-26T21:35:02Z")
But condoms ARE available OTC. And I thought I demonstrated how birth control in the context of a population is still pretty ineffective. Even if used properly we would be talking tens of thousands of unexpected of pregnancies. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SmartAlx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/54 "2009-10-26T21:38:47Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > How is it not working? The US total fertility rate is around replacement level right now. I said we gave a different set of problems. And besides saying the US is at replacement level is not true. We are still growing, as of the last census. We’ll find out more in a year or so. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/55 "2009-10-26T21:40:11Z")
Forced abortions is fine by me. World population is growing mostly from wanted pregnancies, not unwanted ones, but passing out more jimmies would still be a good idea. Wagging a finger and telling people not to have sex is a massive waste of time. You can cmlain all you want about the trivial failure rates of contraceptives, but scolding people to be abstinent is _monumentally_ ineffective. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/56 "2009-10-26T21:42:39Z")
> [@SmartAlx](#): > > But condoms ARE available OTC. And I thought I demonstrated how birth control in the context of a population is still pretty ineffective. Even if used properly we would be talking tens of thousands of unexpected of pregnancies. Condoms aren’t as effective as Depo or the pill. Tens of thousands of unexpected pregnancies need not equal tens of thousands of unwanted babies. ---
**Author:** ![sinusoidal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sinusoidal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinusoidal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/57 "2009-10-26T21:43:31Z")
> [@SmartAlx](#): > > These days it’s assumed that a dating couple that has been together a few weeks is having sex. That is far too fast. Why? I see nothing wrong with sex after dating for a few weeks. > [@SmartAlx](#): > > Sex is too important today. The numbers demonstrate it. How? What numbers? I think sex is just important enough for me. > [@SmartAlx](#): > > Abortion is unnatural. … and hemlock is natural. > [@SmartAlx](#): > > If we allowed nature to take its course, we would be up to 7,8 billion people by now. And it would only get worse as population exploded. Shoot, it’s exploding now WITH abortion. If abortion is the solution, then explain why population is not under control. Nature never intented us to behave like rabbits. And yes, it is definitely a problem. Project these numbers forward by, say, 100 years. And we should then include the global population and people who don’t use contraceptives too, as well as people who plan their pregnancies. Will we be talking about a population of 10 or 15 billion? Possibly more? I would guess that 20 billion is quite possible in 100 years. How many people can the planet sustain? When I was five, I was about three and a half feet tall. Now I am 5’9". Logically, this mean that in 16 years I will be 9’3". ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SmartAlx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/58 "2009-10-26T21:43:43Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Nonsense. Abortion is a perfectly straightforward solution. It’s a cheap and simple medical procedure. But our population growth (even in America) is still on the rise, even with abortion. > [@](#): > > Another solution is to make birth control free and freely available to anyone over the age of 16. Did you READ the OP? Birth control doesn’t stop pregnancies from happening for a group of millions or billions of people. > [@](#): > > As far as it being ‘unnatural’ - I would remind you that in nature, mothers who are too stressed and don’t want to continue their pregnancy either reabsorb the embryos into their bodies or eat their young. Compared to that, abortion is an improvement. Aren’t humans a part of nature? Yours is a very slim argument, you must admit. Humans have never absorbed their fetuses. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/59 "2009-10-26T21:45:29Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Forced abortions is fine by me. Say what? No. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SmartAlx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156/60 "2009-10-26T21:47:20Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Forced abortions is fine by me. > > World population is growing mostly from wanted pregnancies, not unwanted ones, but passing out more jimmies would still be a good idea. > > Wagging a finger and telling people not to have sex is a massive waste of time. You can cmlain all you want about the trivial failure rates of contraceptives, but scolding people to be abstinent is _monumentally_ ineffective. So what’s your solution? We ARE going to have to address this issue within the next 10 or 20 years. You aren’t REALLY in support of forced abortions, are you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-solution-to-a-million-unwanted-pregnacies-occurring-as-a-result-of-protected-sex/515156.md?page=4)