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  • "
    umpcah wrote:
    It`s a fact that teenage girls are more mature in every way than they were say 50 years ago. It`s also a fact that they are " courted " by adventurous boys who are a bit older and looking to add to their sexual experiences ! Any measure that helps to avoid unwanted pregnancies seems progress to me.
    this is very true
    in my day 13year olds were flat and skinny today they are hour glass shaped and mature a lot earlier than boys but there again food is a lot better today than it was in my day just after the war"
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Over-counter Pill 'for girls of 13'

4:46am Thursday 26th April 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

A pilot scheme offered the contraceptive pill at pharmacies without a prescription A pilot scheme offered the contraceptive pill at pharmacies without a prescription

Girls as young as 13 could be offered the contraceptive pill at pharmacies without needing a prescription, an NHS report has suggested.

It follows a pilot scheme which found the number of women needing emergency contraception "dropped significantly" in the year following the introduction of over-the-counter access to the pill.

The report, by NHS South East London, said the trial was successful in reaching its target group of black British, Caribbean and African women aged between 20 and 24 and those who had not previously used oral contraception.

The study was carried out at five pharmacies in the Southwark and Lambeth boroughs of south London, which have some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe, and the highest in the capital.

The report said those who used it had valued the convenience of the service and the anonymity it offered.

It recommended it be expanded to other pharmacies around the country and also consider offering it to teenagers aged between 13 and 16.

In 2010 another scheme to allow girls as young as 13 to receive the pill on the Isle of Wight caused controversy.

It allowed teenagers who visited the chemist for the morning-after pill to also get a month's supply of the contraceptive pill.

Dr Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship criticised the London study.

He told the BBC: "There is no clear evidence from this study that it will reduce unplanned pregnancy and abortion and there is a real risk that, by encouraging more risk-taking behaviour, it could fuel the epidemic of sexually-transmitted disease."

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