TU Tuesday - Editorial

http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Editorial-A-smarter-way-on-contraception-2398578.php

       The speaker gives facts while also still including their opinion into the writing smoothly. "The Obama administration faced an admittedly difficult decision when it refused to allow the so-called morning-after pill to be sold to girls 16 and under without a prescription. It's not too late, though, to revisit this issue and do it right." The author stated the facts and said that they didn't think this was the right way to handle it. The author includes and clearly states both sides of the story but leans toward the side of allowing teenage girls to have access to this drug... "Surely there are ways to make obtaining this drug — which must be taken within three days after intercourse to have a reasonable chance of being effective — less onerous for adolescents, without taking adults, including parents, out of the picture."
        The author reasons why a girl would need to take a morning-after pill and it is clear that she thinks it should be allowed when she says "it's not unreasonable to wonder whether a child wants to buy this drug after a rape that she is too afraid to report, or does not feel she can talk to her parents." The author is siding with young girls and thinking of possibilites other than just having sex at a young age. She backs up her opinion by saying "The FDA had concluded that the drug is safe, that girls under 17 can understand the product is not for routine use and that they could use it properly without the involvement of a health care provider."
        The author states that she thinks the parents are responsible for whether their kids know about having safe sex. "Where is the counseling on responsible sex? Where is the parent? Where is there at least another adult, if only to ask a few simple questions: Do you know about safe sex? Do you know that there are various options for birth control? Is everything else OK?" She isn't worried about offending anyone. It's easy to tell that she thinks girls should have access to this drug because their reasons for taking it could be that their parents aren't teaching them safe sex or the possibility they were raped.
         Throughout the editorial we know what the author believes, but in the end she doesn't state what she thinks the Obama administration should do in the situation, just that there is a better decision. "Somewhere in those two goals is an intelligent, compassionate solution. The Obama administration would do justice to all sides by finding it." I think the author backed up her opinion well.