After discussing the controversial advertisement for half-price abortions, it only seems natural to take a closer look at what should, ideally, come before abortion – birth control. Why is it that in a country where birth control is readily available and where no religions frown upon its use, abortions are still so common, and not just among the expected demographics, but among older professionals and married women alike – people who should “know better.” So if it isn’t availability, then what is it that keeps so many Chinese women from making better decisions regarding birth control?

Go into any Chinese pharmacy and birth control is easy to find. Condoms – from the hilariously named local Jissbon brand (apparently Jissbon is actually the standard Mandarin transliteration of James Bond!) to Trojans, flavored, ribbed, even vibrating – line the shelves. The morning after pill is near the feminine hygiene products, near pregnancy tests and ovulation predictor kits. Daily hormonal birth control pills – “the pill” – is also available, mostly a European brand called Marvelon, again, over the counter, near the morning after pill. More invasive forms of birth control – IUDs and implants, are also available, although they require a doctor to administer them. However, by far the most common form of birth control is the morning after pill, a pill that must be taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse in order to prevent pregnancy.

Photo: Marc van der Chijs

I’ve often thought about why the morning after pill is so popular in China, whereas it is seen back home as a last resort – not as bad as abortion or the abortion pill, but controversial, requiring a doctor’s visit and parental consent, not least of all because it blurs the line somewhat between abortion and contraception. The morning after pill can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s uterus, and therefore has been attacked by the pro-life contingency as being, essentially, a form of abortion. However, if we recall, China does not have the same cultural and religious issues with abortion that many Western countries face, and the morning after pill has become the simplest and easiest way for a woman to keep herself safe from unwanted pregnancy.

Except, is it really? The problem with the morning after pill, to me, as a woman, is not ethical, but practical. While it has a very specific purpose, and can be a lifesaver for a woman who has had a one night stand, been taken advantage of, or, perhaps, is having sex for the first time, for most normally sexually active teenagers and adults, how many “mornings after” does it take before the morning after pill simply becomes a poor and rather excessive substitute for a more regular form of birth control. Most women would agree that a daily pill, once taking it becomes a habit, is not too difficult to remember, but the morning after pill can become an afterthought if you have to force yourself to remember it after every single sexual encounter. For a woman with a husband or a steady boyfriend, taking the morning after pill twice a week or more may not be the healthiest choice either. The morning after pill provides a higher dose of hormones than the regular daily pill, and can cause side effects in many women. 

However, it seems that in China there is a mental leap between taking the morning after pill and taking regular hormonal birth control, a leap that was perhaps made by Western women back in the 60s and 70s. This leap is the distinction between being sexually active, having a healthy sex life, and being a “slut.” For many Chinese women，daily hormonal birth control is still seen as, for all intents and purposes, a “slut pill.” The idea seems to be that the only women would need constant protection from pregnancy would be women who are constantly having sex, something that no nice Chinese girl wants to admit. The embarrassment factor of going into the pharmacy and purchasing “the pill” is different from the (Understandable! Relatable! Acceptable! It just happened this one time!) loss of face that takes place when one purchases the morning after pill. The morning after pill, as a contraceptive choice, says “I made a bad decision just this once,” whereas the pill makes a statement about a girl’s sexually active lifestyle. Schoolyard rumors float around regarding the pill – it is bad for your health, it is ineffective, it will make you sterile. I have even seen Chinese women counseled by actual doctors to abort fetuses that were conceived on the pill, not because these babies were unwanted, but because surely they were damaged somehow by the big bad birth control pill.

If this is a society where everyone is having sex, but no one talks about it, that goes doubly for women. The line between “good girls” and “bad girls” is very clear here – “good girls” study, obey their parents, and don’t have boyfriends before college at least. “Bad girls” sleep in class, smoke cigarettes, and have boyfriends or worse. What this means is that when good girls do occasionally engage in bad girl behavior, they are woefully unprepared for the consequences. Whereas in the West we have sexual education in most classrooms, Chinese students get a basic lecture on the birds and the bees, but nothing about contraception, pregnancy prevention, or STDs (until college, when HIV prevention becomes a topic). Most of what Chinese teenagers know about sex comes from movies and their peers, which means a lot of misinformation gets passed around – from the pill causes sterility, to the old myth about how you can’t get pregnant your first time having sex. The lack of sexual education in China is related to the same more conservative ideas about sex ed that we see back home – teaching students anything but the basics is basically giving them “permission” to go ahead and do it. There should be no acknowledging of even the possibility of students having sex, much less the mention of safe sex, because who knows what would happen to society otherwise.

Of course, the problem here is apparent. In China, misinformation due to ignorance or lack of education about birth control is rampant, and in a society where options for the prevention of pregnancy are readily and easily available, abortion and other less desirable forms of birth control remain more popular than proven and safe methods of responsible contraception. Unlike America, or the UK, or most Western nations, China is as a country with a very harsh outlook towards unplanned pregnancy, and as such, can ill afford for its young women to be in the dark about birth control. Chinese men and women alike need to know their options before they are thrust into a situation where they have none.

Note: Elizabeth in China has an excellent section on birth control in China. It includes information on a variety of birth control options available in China and how to say them in Chinese.
  
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