For starters, the woman who hasn't had sex in two years and doesn't exactly see sex happening any time might consider going off birth control pills. They might be causing depression. What's she on them for anyway? Maybe they keep her skin clear?
I would stay on them to keep my cycle regular even if I wasn't having sex. Also, it's a pain to go on them and off them - every time you want them you have to go into the doctor, if you've let the prescription lapse. Who wants that bother? And better safe than sorry - you never know when you're going to have sex again, and I'd prefer to have sex while on birth control than not. I think it's pretty possible that she feels if she goes off birth control she will be "giving up" on any illusions that she may be getting laid any time soon. I certainly would.
maybe so -- but don't people now normally use protection with new friends until you both get tested and make some kind of safe sex commitment (i.e. safe with others, but not with you) or monogamy. Given the situation... she'd meet somebody, spend 8-10 weeks (or, um, 8 to 10 days) falling in love, get tested... and besides, what's the magic of a regular cycle? The moon may wax and wane every 28 days, but how many women do normally... maybe The Pill these days is not as toxic as they used to be, except maybe YAZ.
If better safe than sorry, why not better more safe, (less) sorry? Contraception is the responsibility of both parties, to be sure, but just because I believe I'll use a condom without failure every time I have sex doesn't mean using hormonal birth control is unwise or unnecessary. I hate the entire experience of getting my period. As an adult I've still had occasions where it came unexpectedly or unusually heavily and at least once ruined my jeans while in a public place because of that. Embarrassing, inconvenient, and not to mention losing the jeans - not very economic. I also used to get hormonal migraines as a PMS. symptom and my BC helps mitigate those. There's lots of reasons to be on birth control even if you're certain you'll use a condom every time. I think it's more responsible for both partners to own and manage their BC and I see hormonal BC as my way of doing that. If you have a bad reaction to the medication or in general are anti-medicine then don't take it - but if you would agree with taking daily medicine for other reasons, then how's BC different?
So I'm bad at safe sex for sure. It hasn't been an issue yet but it's a matter of time probably. I had sex with a girl on the first date like three weeks ago. As long as you don't get anything that starts with an H (HIV, Hepatitis, Herpes) it's nothing penicillin won't clear up.
One of the things that pisses me off about the pharmacists demanding "conscience" objections. 14% from the Guttmacher Institute study. Second link with charts here I've seen a study that was 1/3 of all women on hormonal BC were using it for reasons not related to contraception, but cannot find the study to link.