The Importance of Women’s Health; Emergency Contraception

CriticalAnalysis of Women’s Health – Emergency Contraception

The website I will be analyzing is under the URL womenshealth.gov meaning. That it is run by a government agency, specifically the Office on Women’s Health, and focuses on emergency contraception. Also known as emergency birth control (http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/emergency- contraception.html?from=AtoZ). The website does present its information very clearly beginning with simple facts about emergency contraceptives. And then presents a series of questions and answers that they thought to be commonly asked.

Throughout the webpage, numbers and data are presented to support the facts that are outlined. Although at first glance the website seems to be clear and useful. It actually has some faults in regards to women’s issues such as agency and victimization; and although the website does undoubtedly address some social positions, it also neglects to address others.

The website immediately delves into the circumstances that facilitate emergency contraceptive use. Immediately, the issue of women’s agency amidst societal constraints arises. The page reads: “Use emergency contraception if: you didn’t use birth control, you were forced to have sex, the condom broke or came off,” etc. After reading the first two reasons why a woman may need to use emergency contraception, I noticed a problem. The phrase “You didn’t use birth control” is problematic because it assigns all of the blame to the woman. While I understand that by suggesting this, the website avoids victimizing women and preserves the woman’s agency, it fails to acknowledge instances where the lack of birth control is not the woman’s fault, such as rape or other circumstances. The wording sounds accusatory and might be better framed as: “You or your partner did not use birth control”. The phrase “You were forced to have sex” is also problematic. For one, the subject being “you” assigns blame in a similar manner. More concerning is that it glosses over rape, swiftly moving on to the next reason to use emergency contraception. This downplays the severity of forced sex and might leave victims, for example, those in abusive relationships, unaware of their circumstances and their rights. Normally, when the subject of rape is broached, further resources are provided along with direct instructions to see a doctor. The lack of additional information regarding forced sex disempowers those who experienced it, restricting their opportunity to control their situation and assert their agency. Failing to recognize a victim where one exists is as detrimental as constantly victimizing all women.

This website takes into account certain social positions, but it does not encompass all social positions. It addresses age within the question-and-answer section with the question, “I heard that 17-year-olds can now buy ECPs without a prescription – is that true?” The website goes on to elaborate on the topic of age and also clearly defines what an individual under seventeen years of age should do to get emergency contraceptives. However, other social positions such as socioeconomic status are left out. The website never gives an up-to-date price for over-the-counter emergency contraceptives. A woman with forty dollars to her name may go to the store to buy emergency contraceptives, just to find out that it costs a whopping $100—which is another issue on its own. She is left with little to no time to see a doctor about her options, and not enough money to purchase Plan B. Within the question-and-answer section, where they address other issues relating to social positions, you would think that “How much is this going to cost me?” or “Is there a way to get ECPs for a discounted price?” or “Is this covered by insurance?” would be some pretty commonly asked questions. The closest they get to this is linking Planned Parenthood’s website at the very bottom of the page for more information, but the link only takes you to the homepage of Planned Parenthood and not a more specific webpage on emergency birth control. Because womenshealth.gov does not provide information on pricing and how financially viable emergency contraception is, it may prevent women in certain socioeconomic positions from utilizing it because they may feel that they do not have the option to do so.

While this webpage is very informative and there are a lot of benefits to reading it, the way it handles the less obvious women’s health issues is appalling in a way. Women’s health websites should be clear, factual, and also account for all social positions, as well as women’s agency in this socially constructed world. This is just one more example of how far we still have to come as a nation regarding women’s health issues considering this website is run by a government agency.

Did you like this example?

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