# FILE NAME: 00001522.soc
# TITLE: Should the government provide free contraception to everyone? [dce24befd1947d27c01d94ff8b8e76b3]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 5
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - “We have debated the issue and come to the conclusion that everyone should be provided with free contraception. We acknowledge that the majority of costs related to unplanned pregnancies are borne by the mother, and women are unfairly penalised for not being able to afford contraception. This is unfair. Men also need to take responsibility and we agree that it is unlikely to be successful unless contraception is provided for free to everyone. We also agree that the economic benefits of such a scheme would be substantial, particularly when you consider that those most likely to struggle to pay for contraception are those who can least afford it. It is clear to us that providing free contraception will save the government money in the long term.” I then presented this consensus statement to a group of experts and asked them to critique it. In this example, the experts were GPs. This is what they said: Expert critique 1: nice job. i think this consensus statement is a good one. it says what needs to be said. The only issue i might raise is that there may be some medico-legal issues to do with this. if contraception is provided free to men, there is the issue of what if they use it to increase their
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - “We have debated the issue and come to the conclusion that everyone should be provided with free contraception. We acknowledge that the majority of costs related to unplanned pregnancies are borne by the mother, and women are unfairly penalised for not being able to afford contraception. This is unfair. Men also need to take responsibility and we agree that it is unlikely to be successful unless contraception is provided for free to everyone. We also agree that the economic benefits of such a scheme would be substantial, particularly when you consider that those most likely to struggle to pay for contraception are those who can least afford it. It is clear to us that providing free contraception will save the government money in the long term. We also acknowledge that the free provision of contraception is likely to lead to some people abusing the system, but we think that this is outweighed by the benefits of the scheme.”
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - “We have debated the issue and come to the conclusion that everyone should be provided with free contraception. Women are unfairly penalised for not being able to afford contraception, while men generally pay a smaller penalty. This is unfair. We further believe that, as is seen by the majority of child poverty statistics that show it’s usually the mother raising the children alone, men do not take enough responsibility when it comes to contraception. It is clear to us that providing free contraception will save the government money in the long term. This is backed by figures in the UK and USA, where it has been shown to have dramatic positive effects.” Next: The online polls Also in this series: Social media for psychology researchers: The basics
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - “We have debated the issue and have come to the consensus view that everyone should be provided with free contraception. We acknowledge that the majority of costs related to unplanned pregnancies are borne by the mother and that women are unfairly penalised for not being able to afford contraception. This is unfair. Men also need to take responsibility and it is unlikely to be successful unless contraception is provided for free to everyone. There will also be substantial economic benefits. While at first there may be an increase in government spending, when you consider how much this will reduce the amount of people claiming welfare and reduce the cost of unplanned pregnancies in the long term, the cost saving is likely to be substantial. We also have to consider how this will benefit our health system, especially when you consider the cost of the rising rates of birth defects.
1: 4,1,2,3
1: 2,1,3,4
1: 1,2,4,3
1: 4,2,3,1
1: 4,3,2,1