Today, federal officials will meet to discuss the possibility of offering Plan B, an emergency contraceptive pill, over the counter at drug stores and grocery stores. I am completely torn about this issue.
On one hand, the arguments for offering the drug are strong: (1) it is most effective when taken 12 hours after unprotected (or unconsented) sex and it is very difficult to get and fill a doctor's prescription in 12 hours; (2) many pharmacies don't stock it, making filling the prescription even more difficult; (3) women have encountered moral lectures by pharmacists when trying to fill the prescription; (4) many women who find need of the drug are young and uninsured, making it extremely difficult for them to get the prescription in the first place; and (5) the list goes on and basically comes to the same thing - as usual, it is easier for affluent and privileged people to deal with an unwanted pregnancy than it is for poor, uneducated people.
On the other hand: (1) this fuels the fire of anti-abortionists' arguments that after-the-fact termination of unwanted pregnancies is a "convenient means of birth control;" (2) the availability of this drug may de facto decrease the pressure on schools, community centers, families and the government to offer birth control and birth control education; (3) I don't know much about the short or long term health risks - but I have to believe that condoms are less dangerous than a drug that prevents a fertilized egg from attaching itself to the wall of the uterus. This confounds me.
I wish that the resources of NARAL and Planned Parenthood were being expended toward providing free clinics - with doctors and pharmacies on site that could dispense the drug. And toward getting effective and substantive sex education in schools. Not to mention providing better support for new mothers who may decide to keep an unplanned child.
On one hand, the arguments for offering the drug are strong: (1) it is most effective when taken 12 hours after unprotected (or unconsented) sex and it is very difficult to get and fill a doctor's prescription in 12 hours; (2) many pharmacies don't stock it, making filling the prescription even more difficult; (3) women have encountered moral lectures by pharmacists when trying to fill the prescription; (4) many women who find need of the drug are young and uninsured, making it extremely difficult for them to get the prescription in the first place; and (5) the list goes on and basically comes to the same thing - as usual, it is easier for affluent and privileged people to deal with an unwanted pregnancy than it is for poor, uneducated people.
On the other hand: (1) this fuels the fire of anti-abortionists' arguments that after-the-fact termination of unwanted pregnancies is a "convenient means of birth control;" (2) the availability of this drug may de facto decrease the pressure on schools, community centers, families and the government to offer birth control and birth control education; (3) I don't know much about the short or long term health risks - but I have to believe that condoms are less dangerous than a drug that prevents a fertilized egg from attaching itself to the wall of the uterus. This confounds me.
I wish that the resources of NARAL and Planned Parenthood were being expended toward providing free clinics - with doctors and pharmacies on site that could dispense the drug. And toward getting effective and substantive sex education in schools. Not to mention providing better support for new mothers who may decide to keep an unplanned child.
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