2008 Woodie Awards
Should Plan B require a prescription?
Head-to-Head
Issue date: 10/20/06 Section: Opinion
Originally published: 10/19/06 at 4:23 PM EST
Last update: 10/19/06 at 8:32 PM EST
- Page 1 of 1
Women are aware of safety, forget doctors
by Kate Forsythe
Debt. Depression. Work load pressures. Homesickness. College students have enough stress in their lives without worrying about unintended pregnancy. Accidents happen. Even the most careful couple might desire easier access to emergency contraception, also known as the morning after pill.
There are many barriers blocking easy access to hormonal contraception throughout the country. Although few states currently offer over-the-counter emergency contraception, all of them should.
Physical exams are usually required before a woman may obtain the pill. Yet many women do not have regular health care or even health insurance that would cover the one visit. Also, doctor's offices and clinics often have limited evening and weekend hours - the hours that are best for women who are working or attending school.
In addition, the high cost of doctor visits has become an obstacle - and sometimes the ultimate deterrent - to obtaining a prescription contraceptive. The business hours of pharmacies often include evenings, weekends and even many holidays, a convenience that doctor's offices will never be able to compete with.
The morning after pill meets all of the general criteria for over-the-counter drug status. It is relatively safe, extremely simple to use, and not largely associated with any dangerous side effects. There is a small risk that the pill may cause thrombosis and strokes, but these should be compared with the risks associated with not getting contraception at all.
A woman has a better chance of getting thrombosis from pregnancy itself than from the pill. Also, unwanted and unintended pregnancies can cause women to experience serious long-term problems with their mental and physical health. Medications like aspirin and paracetamol, that have even greater risks associated with usage, are already available over the counter.
The American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists both have stated that they feel that emergency contraception is both safe and effective enough to be used without a prescription.
The biggest concern of those who oppose the pill's pharmacy access is that the method could potentially be used unsafely. Support for this cause hinges on the reliance of pharmacists to screen women for health risks before dispensing it. This is widely practiced, but needs to be implemented completely. Pharmacists must however, as with any medicine, inform their customer about the side effects of emergency contraception.
According to a Pharmacy Access Partnership national survey of women ages 18 to 44, 55 percent of women say they would be more likely to use emergency contraception if it was available over-the-counter.
Women of all ages, racial groups, income levels, religious affiliations, and education levels have banded together to support all women, and their right to accessible health options.
It is not surprising that a large number of women who support the cause are those who would personally benefit from it. Yet as with all public policies, we should be most alert to the opinions of those who are affected by the outcome.
The ability to drive to a local pharmacy and request emergency contraception from a qualified, professional pharmacist behind the counter is a choice that a responsible woman can easily make on her own.
Most women would welcome the opportunity to make such a progressive decision.
OR
It is not an abortion pill, get prescribed
by Ryan Bacher
Liberals were pissed off.
On Aug. 24, the FDA announced that Levonorgestrel, more commonly known as "Plan B" or "the morning after pill," is approved for over-the-counter sale to women ages 18 and older.
The morning after pill can only be sold where a licensed pharmacist or health professional is available, and not at gas stations or convenience stores.
Conservatives, even President George "Mandate from God" Bush, saw this as a reasonable compromise.
Liberals cried foul. The usual complaints were shouted:
"You're violating a minor's right to medical privacy!"
"The FDA caved under political pressure from those right-wing nut jobs!"
"You're putting more obstacles in the way of a woman's right to choose!"
"You're ugly and your momma dresses you funny!"
And so on and so forth.
While the liberals may want blood and the conservatives are mostly content, I would argue that the morning after pill should have remained "prescription only".
The first argument that opponents of making Plan B available over the counter is the "life begins at conception" debate.
Many anti-abortion groups, the majority of them faith-based, will argue that the morning after pill can destroy human life by causing the equivalent of a chemical abortion.
Let's put that argument away right now. These groups are confusing the morning after pill with the abortion pill. Plan B won't work if pregnancy has occurred.
Since I'm a pro-choice atheist by heart, let's put the ranting of the religious right aside and focus on more valid reasons that the morning-after pill should stay behind the counter.
Plan B is basically a high dose of birth control hormone taken at different intervals.
While the Web site for Plan B contains a whole section describing how the pill is "safe and effective", each page on the site contains a legal butt-saving disclaimer warning that the morning after pill often causes "nausea, abdominal pain, headache, menstrual changes, dizziness, breast tenderness, and vomiting".
Plan B and Planned Parenthood both say that these side effects are "non-serious."
I, too, would say that if I was selling Plan B or had money invested in its stock, which Planned Parenthood does.
I wonder who is putting the political pressure on whom here.
Even if menstrual changes and vomiting are a light Sunday walk in the park for women, I can't blame the FDA for being a little cautious about approving high doses of hormones without a prescription.
Remember, too, that the FDA has been criticized lately for approving drugs that turned out to be more lethal than they said they were.
Making a pill available only by prescription is not an "obstacle". It's a precaution.
Proponents, supporters, and stockholders of Plan B argue that it is safe when used as directed and will help lower the abortion rate, and they have the studies to prove it.
There are also studies that say the opposite.
Just last month the British Medical Journal reported that more emergency contraception use may not mean less abortions.
Even in its compromise, the FDA stressed the importance of having a medical professional explain the effects of this pill to the consumer.
Politics and propaganda aside, wouldn't it make more sense if that medical professional worked in a doctor's office instead of at the Rite Aid counter?
by Kate Forsythe
Debt. Depression. Work load pressures. Homesickness. College students have enough stress in their lives without worrying about unintended pregnancy. Accidents happen. Even the most careful couple might desire easier access to emergency contraception, also known as the morning after pill.
There are many barriers blocking easy access to hormonal contraception throughout the country. Although few states currently offer over-the-counter emergency contraception, all of them should.
Physical exams are usually required before a woman may obtain the pill. Yet many women do not have regular health care or even health insurance that would cover the one visit. Also, doctor's offices and clinics often have limited evening and weekend hours - the hours that are best for women who are working or attending school.
In addition, the high cost of doctor visits has become an obstacle - and sometimes the ultimate deterrent - to obtaining a prescription contraceptive. The business hours of pharmacies often include evenings, weekends and even many holidays, a convenience that doctor's offices will never be able to compete with.
The morning after pill meets all of the general criteria for over-the-counter drug status. It is relatively safe, extremely simple to use, and not largely associated with any dangerous side effects. There is a small risk that the pill may cause thrombosis and strokes, but these should be compared with the risks associated with not getting contraception at all.
A woman has a better chance of getting thrombosis from pregnancy itself than from the pill. Also, unwanted and unintended pregnancies can cause women to experience serious long-term problems with their mental and physical health. Medications like aspirin and paracetamol, that have even greater risks associated with usage, are already available over the counter.
The American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists both have stated that they feel that emergency contraception is both safe and effective enough to be used without a prescription.
The biggest concern of those who oppose the pill's pharmacy access is that the method could potentially be used unsafely. Support for this cause hinges on the reliance of pharmacists to screen women for health risks before dispensing it. This is widely practiced, but needs to be implemented completely. Pharmacists must however, as with any medicine, inform their customer about the side effects of emergency contraception.
According to a Pharmacy Access Partnership national survey of women ages 18 to 44, 55 percent of women say they would be more likely to use emergency contraception if it was available over-the-counter.
Women of all ages, racial groups, income levels, religious affiliations, and education levels have banded together to support all women, and their right to accessible health options.
It is not surprising that a large number of women who support the cause are those who would personally benefit from it. Yet as with all public policies, we should be most alert to the opinions of those who are affected by the outcome.
The ability to drive to a local pharmacy and request emergency contraception from a qualified, professional pharmacist behind the counter is a choice that a responsible woman can easily make on her own.
Most women would welcome the opportunity to make such a progressive decision.
OR
It is not an abortion pill, get prescribed
by Ryan Bacher
Liberals were pissed off.
On Aug. 24, the FDA announced that Levonorgestrel, more commonly known as "Plan B" or "the morning after pill," is approved for over-the-counter sale to women ages 18 and older.
The morning after pill can only be sold where a licensed pharmacist or health professional is available, and not at gas stations or convenience stores.
Conservatives, even President George "Mandate from God" Bush, saw this as a reasonable compromise.
Liberals cried foul. The usual complaints were shouted:
"You're violating a minor's right to medical privacy!"
"The FDA caved under political pressure from those right-wing nut jobs!"
"You're putting more obstacles in the way of a woman's right to choose!"
"You're ugly and your momma dresses you funny!"
And so on and so forth.
While the liberals may want blood and the conservatives are mostly content, I would argue that the morning after pill should have remained "prescription only".
The first argument that opponents of making Plan B available over the counter is the "life begins at conception" debate.
Many anti-abortion groups, the majority of them faith-based, will argue that the morning after pill can destroy human life by causing the equivalent of a chemical abortion.
Let's put that argument away right now. These groups are confusing the morning after pill with the abortion pill. Plan B won't work if pregnancy has occurred.
Since I'm a pro-choice atheist by heart, let's put the ranting of the religious right aside and focus on more valid reasons that the morning-after pill should stay behind the counter.
Plan B is basically a high dose of birth control hormone taken at different intervals.
While the Web site for Plan B contains a whole section describing how the pill is "safe and effective", each page on the site contains a legal butt-saving disclaimer warning that the morning after pill often causes "nausea, abdominal pain, headache, menstrual changes, dizziness, breast tenderness, and vomiting".
Plan B and Planned Parenthood both say that these side effects are "non-serious."
I, too, would say that if I was selling Plan B or had money invested in its stock, which Planned Parenthood does.
I wonder who is putting the political pressure on whom here.
Even if menstrual changes and vomiting are a light Sunday walk in the park for women, I can't blame the FDA for being a little cautious about approving high doses of hormones without a prescription.
Remember, too, that the FDA has been criticized lately for approving drugs that turned out to be more lethal than they said they were.
Making a pill available only by prescription is not an "obstacle". It's a precaution.
Proponents, supporters, and stockholders of Plan B argue that it is safe when used as directed and will help lower the abortion rate, and they have the studies to prove it.
There are also studies that say the opposite.
Just last month the British Medical Journal reported that more emergency contraception use may not mean less abortions.
Even in its compromise, the FDA stressed the importance of having a medical professional explain the effects of this pill to the consumer.
Politics and propaganda aside, wouldn't it make more sense if that medical professional worked in a doctor's office instead of at the Rite Aid counter?
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
ebbie
posted 10/20/06 @ 8:38 AM EST
I wonder if Ryan made a mistake, one crazy night, with let's say a nameless younglady, would he be searching for an 24 hour Rite Aid??
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