Unwanted Control Of Pregnancy
Isn't that what the FDA decision is all about? Kari Lyderson writes about the bogus notion by an FDA official that "Plan B," as the pill is called, was likely to be misused by teen girls who couldn't figure out the directions. Please. Two pills -- a high dose of regular birth control pills -- taken 12 hours apart, within 72 hours of unprotected sex. How hard is that to figure out?
Right-wing pundits have also said that making the pill available over the counter would mean men (or other women) could purchase the pill and slip it to women or girls secretly to prevent them from conceiving a wanted child. Though there might be a small number of situations where something like this would happen, again it is an argument that twists reality on its head ñ itís safe to say that in the majority of cases where a male partner is trying to manipulate a womanís reproduction, it is by trying to prevent her access to contraception or otherwise limit her control over her own body. In other words, a husband or boyfriend is far more likely to pressure a woman not to take the pill or to be dismissive of the risk of pregnancy than he is to slip the pill into her drink.Insinuations that the pill isnít healthy for women are also inaccurate ñ the pill is essentially a strong dose of the same hormones and chemicals in birth control pills, and has virtually no side effects or long-term effects. An abortion is far more disruptive and stressful for a womanís health than using the morning after pill.
Every year thousands women of all ages, and young women and girls in particular, see their lives changed forever because of unwanted pregnancies. Many unwanted pregnancies are avoided with the availability of the pill by prescription as it is now, but many more could be avoided if the pill were affordably and easily available over the counter. The idea that a woman should have to undergo an abortion or bear a child she isnít ready for just because of a lapse of judgment or a broken condom, when this situation is fully avoidable with the pill, is a sad statement about the priorities of the Food & Drug Administration.
The priority is clearly going against separations of church and state under the guise of good medicine. Out, out, damn Bush!
Amy. This is not a good time for a liberal to be getting tense about Bush. Kaus has pointed out that if Bush's ratings haven't taken a hit in the past week or two, Dems may have to acknowledge that their candidate is exceptionally week. As Kaus puts it "The needle, she no move..."
I believe in OTC morning-after pills. But when you consider how many goofy regulations there are for pettier medications given to twelve-year-olds, this regulation doesn't seem grossly out of line. A pregnant twelve year old might be the sort of nimrod to do both doses in an hour because she wants the pregnancy over NOW.
Not every unwanted pregnancy is a policy problem.
Don't start hyperventilating until October! (Unless you can nominate Edwards in Boston.)
Crid at May 14, 2004 9:34 AM
As an article in the Village Voice pointed out (which I might link to later, but I'm running right now), Nyquil is far more dangerous to this age group than the morning-after pill. Moreover, what's most dangerous is a teenage pregnancy. Lots of health consequences there. And if you think non-availability of morning-after pills is going to deter teens from having sex, you've been smoking morning after pill wrappers.
Amy Alkon at May 14, 2004 10:15 AM
NyQuil? What about Robitussin? Kids actually take that to get high. And that's addictive and bad news (especially if they take a cough medicine that isn't just DXM). Most 13 year olds are literate and will be able to handle the instructions of the morning after pill. Besides, isn't that what parents are for?
Mo at May 14, 2004 11:54 AM
If this really were just a health issue it would be a no brainer. The pill is safe, the morning after pill is safe, and even screwing up the instructions and taking all the pills at once is only going to make you nauseous for day or two.
As a physician, I find it a travesty that fundamentalist political and moral agendas can control common sense (and science) to such a degree. Clearly, the morning after pill should be over the counter, and probably birth control pills in general.
Don't even get me started on the "condom labeling" thing.
Jeff R at May 14, 2004 12:53 PM
Funny thing is Pres. Bush doesn't even go to church.
LYT at May 14, 2004 1:44 PM
why don't those nasty guys that are going to 'slip' these pills to unsuspecting women instead 'slip' on a condom? Nah...too easy.
rhc
rhc at May 14, 2004 2:16 PM
Men are dogs.
Crid at May 14, 2004 5:00 PM
To doc jeff...the last I heard the FDA is the culprit here. When's the last time you found a religious rightwinger with a lab coat on playing medical bureaucrat? You people with either a liberal or conservative agenda ought to take a closer look at who's causing the bottlenecks. The lawyers and bureaucrats run the real day to day show in this messy world, no matter who is sitting on the throne. The rest is just media bluster. But then, most of the blog world is built on bluster as well. The real people getting real things done aren't sitting at keyboards sniping at anything that moves. Oops. I just shot myself in the keyboard. Takes one to know one.
allan at May 16, 2004 10:07 AM
Unfortunately, the bottlenecks occur in the areas where a number of people are appointed to positions (i.e. Bushís appointing of far-right conservatives and ëdoctorsí who are a disgrace to all of medicine). It is not the FDA itself that is the problem (please see ìProtecting Americaís Health: The FDA, Business, and One Hundred Years of Regulation by Philip J. Hilts) but those who have hijacked it and replaced science with moralistic agendas (although the lawyers donít help matters anyÖ). As for a truly dangerous pill, Tylenol (acetaminophen) poses much more overall threat than many prescription drugs (pre year: over 35,000 unintentional overdoses, about 25,000 intentional overdoses; 6,000 treated with minor impact on health, 3,000 with moderate, 800 with major and 120 are fatal). The most dreaded complication of oral contraceptives is a venous thromboembolism (blood clot) that could lead to death, the incidence of which is roughly 5 deaths per 1,000,000 woman-years (5 deaths if 1 million women took second-generation [read: higher dose] oral contraceptives for one year, all year long); [ìRisk of venous thromboembolism with third-generation oral contraceptives: A reviewî, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feb 99 S295-S301.] Please forgive the poetic license in extrapolating data for I believe in reality the risk of blood clot with subsequent death is actually much lower in one, or even several, doses of Plan B over the course of a year. And as for sitting at a keyboard doing nothing: I am doing my best to win the ëhearts and mindsí of those around me to vote our Bumbling Boy Emperor out of office this fall.
Dr. Jensen at May 16, 2004 9:27 PM