Plan B has finally been approved for over the counter sale.
Granted, OTC sale is just for women over 18. It is still prescription-only for 17-and-unders. (Hey, some progress is better than none.)
Members of the religious right are arguing, contrary to all medical evidence, that Plan-B amounts to abortion, no doubt counting on confusion that mistakes Plan B, a treatment that prevents fertilization of an egg with RU-486, which does terminate an established fertilized embryo up to 49 days after fertilization. Plan B is not an abortion. It prevents fertilization. No fertilized embryo, nothing to abort. Nothing to abort, no “murder.” Problem solved.
Poor women and those ignorant of how the drug works will not suddenly decide to give up on all other forms of birth control. And at $50 a pop, even if they did, I’m guessing they’d quickly change their minds.
Are there risks associated with Plan B? Yep. Some. But, there are greater risks associated with use of Tylenol. (70,000 people die every year in this country alone thanks to acetominophen toxicity. Hell, I almost lost a freshman year college roommate to that stuff.)
I’m a little concerned that it still will not be available to women under 18 without a prescription. Teenage girls would not start featuring gang-bangs in place of facials at Sweet Sixteen sleepovers. They’d still have the facials! Ha ha! Okay, not funny. But you know what I mean. The argument that education and access to sexual knowledge promotes promiscuity and teenage pregnancy holds no water, never has. Lack of education on the subject, in the form of abstinence-only education, sure has done wonders improving this nation’s teen-parent and promiscuity rates, though, hasn’t it? Pft.
I’ve used Plan B, as it was intended: in a bloody-fucking-panic, because a condom failed. On a weekend, when I could only get in touch with my OB/GYN via message center. When I finally got hold of the stuff, and took it, on a Monday, I was potentially mere hours from disaster. When I think of what could have happened…let’s just say I’m relieved that kind of worry never has to happen again.
:-I
And it’s specifically for your story why this drug needs to be available without a prescription. I, too, am unhappy that women under 17 cannot get it without a script, but this is still fantastic, fantastic news. Women have waited too long for this.
And just so everyone knows, Planned Parenthood–God love them–offers it(just as they have since Plan B came about) for $25 or less a pop. No need to see the MD–they give it out on a walk-in basis after a brief interview.