Birth Control Pills

[Lady Tokimi]

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Oka, i looked on the internet and called planned parenthood (i held for about 30min without assistance)....can someone please tell me how old you have to be to get birth control pills?? If you need doctors' prescribtion......which state allows you to get them without consent?? Is consent needed at all?? And any other info you can give me, Thanks

 

[daveyjwin]

Under 18
Parental Consent

Be SAFE and have FUN!

 

[Tee 224]

planned parenthood does not require parental consent, to the best of my knowledge. But they do require an exam. What about your family doctor. I would assume that if you are old enough to apply to school, you don't need your parents consent, no?

 

[Hoberto]

If you are in college check with your school's student health center.

Planned Parenthood will not require parental consent so long as this is in compliance with your state's laws.

Check out Daveyjwin's links.

 

[Lady Tokimi]

Under 18
Parental Consent

Be SAFE and have FUN!

Are family physicians allowed to give birth control pills to teens under 18? or is that a physicians' preference??

Also, that link you gave me for the Under 18 doesn't really state anythin except if you can or can't get "free" pills. And the bad thing is that it doesn't tell you where and which state has that.

It does say that they dont require parental consent however it does not state what age this is effective for. So could a 14yr old get BCP from Planned??

 

[Hoberto]

Thanks Daveywin for the links above!

From the PP website:

"WHAT ARE THE LAWS IN MY STATE REGARDING TEENS' ACCESS TO ABORTION SERVICES AND BIRTH CONTROL?

We at Planned Parenthood encourage family communication about sex and sexuality and believe that parents should talk openly, honestly, and often with their children about sensitive issues, including sex and birth control. We recognize, however, that this isn't always possible. That's why Planned Parenthood is committed to providing services that are confidential and affordable, especially for teens, who may face special family and financial circumstances.

Currently a minor can receive contraceptive information and services without parental permission. However, laws in many states require her to inform a parent, or to receive parental consent, prior to an abortion. "

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/medicalinfo/sexualhealth/faq/main.xml#LAWS

 

[Lady Tokimi]

Currently a minor can receive contraceptive information and services without parental permission. However, laws in many states require her to inform a parent, or to receive parental consent, prior to an abortion. "

QUOTE]

Oka now you went from BCP to abortion......hmmm

 

[gogo110182]

For Birth Control Pills, "...Parental Consent for Contraception Is Unconstitutional..." -- I like this one. Currently, no law requires parental consent for contraception regardless of age, but they DO require prescription.
See link below.
http://www.crlp.org/pub_fac_parentalconsent.html

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Washington allow women to buy Plan B (morning after pill) without prescription or age restrictions. For the rest of states, I guess they need prescription for that.
See link below.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/heal...8/rules_for_morning_after_pill_may_come_soon/

For abortion, laws differ in various states for minors.
See link below.
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/adolabor.htm

 

[jonb12997]

The only problem is unless the teen is going to pay for the BCPs out of their own pocket, often times the parents are going to have to know about it b/c it's most likely their insurance that is paying for it... that's often the issue with parental consent.

 

[Hoberto]

Thanks Daveywin for the links above!

From the PP website:

"WHAT ARE THE LAWS IN MY STATE REGARDING TEENS' ACCESS TO ABORTION SERVICES AND BIRTH CONTROL?

We at Planned Parenthood encourage family communication about sex and sexuality and believe that parents should talk openly, honestly, and often with their children about sensitive issues, including sex and birth control. We recognize, however, that this isn't always possible. That's why Planned Parenthood is committed to providing services that are confidential and affordable, especially for teens, who may face special family and financial circumstances.

Currently a minor can receive contraceptive information and services without parental permission. However, laws in many states require her to inform a parent, or to receive parental consent, prior to an abortion. "

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/medicalinfo/sexualhealth/faq/main.xml#LAWS

A minor can receive conceptive information and services without parental permission. Services refers to BC, this could be just condoms, I suppose. I think the point of their site is that a minor can go to PP for birth control but that going to them for abortion services is a different matter. BUT, you can certainly call (and wait for someone to answer) or stop into a PP in your state and ask without worrying whether parents will be notified. If one were in a hurry thinking of getting BC pills to protect immediately against pregnancy, that won't work. Typically the info packet with the pills says to wait at least one cycle while taking the pills before having unprotected sex anyway. There is time, then, to find a place in your area that will dispense BC without consent.

If you want more info and don't want to be on hold then try several different PPs in your state. You could also try a free clinic or a university's student health services.

gogo110182 has given you some good sites about the various legal issues in each state.

I know that here in Ohio minors can get BC pills with little trouble. However, even though the morning after pill is supposed to be available it is very difficult to actually get it w/o going to a PP or similar facility. This is due to doctors refusing to give it for moral/religious reasons at the majority of the major hospitals. Additionally, many pharmacies won't stock it. I'm not sure if docs could be pulling similar things with BC pills in other states. So, I would recommend going to PP if at all possible because they are serious about confidentiality. Even with the recent HIPPA laws planned parenthood does a better job in keeping confidentiality. (At least in Ohio.)

Good luck!! You will probably have better success during the week. The weekends seem to be terrible times to get any health advice without going to these (or similar) boards.

Just so you know, one month of BC cost me ~35.00 without insurance at my local CVS. PP was cheaper but I don't recall exactly how much it cost.