I wouldn’t want my daughters buying morning after pill, says Health Secretary
JEREMY HUNT has spoken out about his fears about the availability of the morning after pill for young children.
The Health Secretary said as a parent he would be ‘very concerned’ about one of his daughters being sold the contraceptive without parental consent.
‘I’m not comfortable at all as a father about my daughters going out and buying the morning after pill,’ he told LBC.
But he said there had to be an option for girls in these situations so they did not make a bad decision which would affect the rest of their lives.
‘ This is an example of the sort of decisions which need to be taken at arms’ length from politicians’, he said.
‘The tricky thing here is that you have the concerns but you have to recognise there are times when things do go wrong, and you have to have a break glass route in those situations. So I think these are not necessarily black and white situations.’
Earlier this week it emerged that the morning-after pill has been made officially available in all UK pharmacists to girls under 16 for the first time.
The drug, called EllaOne, which can be effective up to five days after sexual intercourse, is on offer nationwide to girls under the age of consent.
Although girls under 16 are below the age of consent, the trial scheme means young women can take action if they are worried they have fallen pregnant.
From now on, EllaOne will be available to any girl under the NHS scheme if it is stocked in the pharmacy. A girl under 16 could also spend £34.95 on the pill if she doesn’t get it on the NHS, but either way she’d have to discuss her sexual activity and contraception with a pharmacist.
Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, said the licence was changed based on a study including 50 girls who had asked for emergency contraception and been given ellaOne. He told The Guardian: ‘Quite apart from questioning whether such a small sample provides sufficient scientific basis for this conclusion, there are plenty of health and social reasons against making ellaOne available to minors.
EllaOne has to be taken within five days of sex – but the sooner any emergency contraceptive is taken, the more effective it will be.
The UK has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in Europe. Latest figures released in February showed there were 4,648 pregnancies in girls under 16.
There were 24,306 pregnancies in under-18s and just over half ended in abortion.
A girl looking to buy the pill will be asked whether she is willing to tell her parents that she has had unprotected sex, or if not, whether she is willing for somebody else to tell them. It can only be given if a pharmacist believes the girl is able to understand the consequences of her decision.
The single pill works by altering the lining of the womb as well as preventing an egg being released from the ovaries.
It has courted controversy in the past over fears that it will encourage unprotected sex among girls, leading to higher rates of promiscuity and sexually transmitted infections.
Earlier clinical trials found that women who took the pill 24 hours after unprotected sex reduced their chances of getting pregnant to nine in 1,000.
Mr Hunt, who has two young daughters under five with wife Lucia and an older son, also spoke about the sexualisation of young children. He said even ‘Cinderella dresses’ marketed at children who love the Disney movie can be inappropriate.He said in the LBC radio interview: ‘I think any dad worries about the early sexualisation of girls. You see your daughter whose wearing a Cinderella dress and it might be quite low cut and they are a very young child and you think “what’s going on here?”.’
Four years ago a crackdown was promised on high street shops selling overtly suggestive clothes to children such as padded bras and tops for girls carrying inappropriate slogans.
Retailers were asked to sign a code of practice after a series of scandals including the sale of crop tops for young girls bearing the slogan ‘future porn star’.
Mr Hunt praised David Cameron’s drive to impose filters for onl ine porn on households with children, although he said his own children are too young for this to be a concern.