Women in the United States may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription – but only with proof they’re 18 or older, federal health officials ruled Thursday, capping a contentious three-year effort to ease access to the emergency contraceptive. Girls 17 and younger still will need a doctor’s note to buy the pills, called Plan B…
The compromise decision is a partial victory for women’s advocacy and medical groups that say eliminating sales restrictions could cut in half the three million annual unplanned pregnancies in the United States.
The pills are a concentrated dose of the same drug found in many regular birth-control pills. When a woman takes the pills within 72 hours of unprotected sex, they can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 per cent. If she already is pregnant, the pills have no effect.
Barr has said it hopes to begin nonprescription sales of Plan B in the U.S. by the end of the year. The pills will be sold only from behind the counter at pharmacies – so the pharmacist can check photo identification – but not at convenience stores or gas stations.
Trying to legislate “morality” according to the standards of 19th Century politics has wasted three years. People who don’t comprehend the medical definition of contraception — must finally step aside and allow another modicum of choice for women.
Bryan, that’s a good thing.
In this case, a 16-year-old girl and her boyfriend have sex for the first time. The condom breaks. She’s not going to tell her parents. Her doctor reports to her parents, not her. It’s BETTER for her to be able to obtain Plan B.
Let’s be reasonable, the only reason Plan B is only available to people 18+ is just part of the conservative war on teenage sex.
I don’t think the FDA has “wasted” three years in deciding this issue. If the FDA just automatically approved every drug that crosses their desks then they’d be doing the public a disservice.
There was also the issue of whether or not a minor should have a parent’s permission or a doctor’s note to buy plan B. The fact is that the FDA sanctioned a process to let a minor get permission from a doctor if a parent is available. This is not just a rightwing plan to keep contraceptives out of the hands of sexually active teens. A different drug, RU486 has been responsible for eight known deaths worldwide probably means that there should be some physician oversight when taking that contraceptive. I just hope that Plan B proves to be a safe alternative for those times when other contraceptive measures fail.
Labelling the FDA’s oversight authority as an attempt to “legislate morality” does nothing to but inflame and polarize an already politically sensitive issue and does nothing to bridge the gap between the differing opinions of the interested parties.
“eight known deaths worldwide”
Wow, that’s out of how many? More people probably die in a single year from peanut allergies than have died from RU486.
“RU486 has been responsible for eight known deaths worldwide probably means that there should be some physician oversight when taking that contraceptive”
Out of how many times it was used.
I can’t quote numbers, but I am sure that there is a higher mortality rate from abortion, and probably even from pregnancy. I’m sure plain ol aspirin is blamed for more than 8 deaths a year.
The 3 wasted years was not to study if the morning after pill was safe. It was purposefuly delayed by right wing religious groups opposed to any medical device/drug/procedure that in any way interferes with a woman conceiving a child after they have had sex for fear it will lead to more people having sex.
I am a Republican, George Bush supporter, but there are a few areas where I dissagree with him and they mostly deal with his pandering to the religious right.
“responsible for eight known deaths worldwide”
pfffft. The death rate from abortion is about the same as for RU486/ Plan B, and the death rate from carrying a baby to term is WAAAAAAAAAAAY higher than that.
And it’s not even a sure bet that the drug was “responsible” for the deaths. They took the drug, and they died. They did a lot of other things too, and any one of those OTHER things may have been responsible for the death.
ZeOverMind , perhaps you could link the source for those eight deaths from RU486. It is very easy to toss around numbers without any basis. An example is the anti-choice crowd claiming that third semester abortions are common. Not only is the third semester abortion a made up argument, but I suspect the eight deaths are too.
One thing to note here is that, from what I’ve read in the science articles/journals, Plan B still can lead to the death of the fertilized egg. It keeps it from implanting. Therefore, it is discharged, causing death of the fertilized egg. So, saying, “If she already is pregnant, the pills have no effect,” is quite misleading, if not completely inaccurate.
It stops implantation of the fertilize egg. If your definition of life is so extreme that you believe that a fertilize egg is life then death is a frequent results of people having sex.
If you take the banality of the moralists out to the logical extreme, a woman should be forbidden to turn down the sexual advances of any man, because that is murdering a potential baby.
Obviously, no rational human believes that. But then, I thought no rational human would oppose Plan B.
And on an unrelated note, a question for the ultra sentimentalists out there who allow their overdeveloped sense of emotion cloud thier judgement… Why do so many people refer to childbirth as a miracle? Isn’t a miracle, by definition, a very rare, and highly improbable or even impossible occurance? How many babies are born daily? What are we at now, about six and three quarter billion people on the planet? What is so miraculous about such a routine event?
No, the eight deaths are indeed legit data points, …
Comment by Sagrilarus — 8/24/2006 @ 3:40 pm
If they are such legitimate “data points” then why haven’t you or any one else linked that number to a reputable site ? Who is espousing this number? Is the CDC, FDA, AMA, or any other three character designation standing behind them? Are they just some number pulled out of the air by some neo-con, anti-choice, wingnut?
Second, blaming Vioxx for tens of thousands of deaths is also extremely misleading. Even today, it is not known if Vioxx caused or exacerbated a pre-condition. It is also unknown what other factors, when combined with Vioxx, played a role. Throwing numbers around to prove a point is a poor debating point unless you can back up those numbers. With Vioxx that can’t be done simply because we don’t know.
As much as I dislike the incumbent heading this Administration, I have to acknowledge they have the authority to stop this move. The Administration is allowed to set policy according to its philosophy, provided it follows the law. The Congress has very few weapons to change policy and in this case, the one they used worked. Just because all the scientists agree, does not force the Administration from doing otherwise.
The 8 deaths have more to do with common sense than the drug itself. Biologically is not very precise, and it’s common for people to have uncommon reactions to certain drugs. Ideally it’s probably a good idea for this hypothetical 16-year-old girl to discuss any and all birth control with her doctor. But at that age her medical records are available to her parents, and so she can’t, and won’t, do that.
I’m sorry. I believe you confused my statement with an anti-abortion statement. Clouded your judgment is, yessss.
No disrespect here, but even a skin cell can be “living” or “dead.” Any MD, DO or PhD in a biochemistry field would tell you that, yes, the fertilized egg dies. Don’t be so quick to attack with pro-abortion teeth when it’s merely a science fact.
#18 –
There is no mistaking the politically loaded phrase “pro-abortion”…
And here I thought pro-abortion meant basically “for abortion.” 🙂 I’m thinking once you’re labeled, people will look at anything you say and judge it from a certain angle. Can’t escape that.
For what it’s worth, I wasn’t trying to use it in its “political way.”