Thursday, September 1, 2005
Sometimes accidents happen. Women get pregnant quite frequently without trying. This is why there are many different types of birth control options on the market, both over-the-counter and prescription.
The Food and Drug Administration is trying to approve the emergency contraceptive Plan B as an over-the-counter option for women over the age of 17, instead of prescription-only, as it is now. The drug would still remain prescription-only for those under 17.
According to an article in the Aug. 27 edition of The Washington Post, the FDA denied the approval of the drug as an over-the-counter treatment last Friday, but this isn’t stopping advocates like Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) from attempting to legalize it.
Plan B, also known as the “morning after pill,” should be taken up to 72 hours after having unprotected sex. According to the drug’s Web site, “If it is taken within 3 days (72 hours) after unprotected sex, it will decrease the chance that you will get pregnant by 89 percent. That means seven out of every eight women who would have gotten pregnant will not get pregnant.”
To have this drug sold as an over-the-counter option seems like a dream for some women. What could be better than not going to the gynecologist to receive prevention, other than condoms, from pregnancy? Sounds great, right? Wrong. The negatives of this drug outweigh the positives.
There are other methods of prevention that are far safer, such as the time-tested condom. If a condom breaks, or another form of birth control fails, the “morning after pill” is already available through a prescription. If a woman cannot use ample protection or go to a doctor within 72 hours of having unprotected sex, is her responsibility level high enough to be having sex?
Another reason that Plan B should remain a prescription-only drug is that the FDA is trying to make it legal for 17-year-old women to buy the drug. The editorial board certainly advocates the use of birth control for women of all ages, but it feels that the over-the-counter use of any contraceptive should not be an option for these young women.
The problem lies in the fact that Plan B would be sold alongside pain relievers and cough drops. Does it really make sense that young women, who can’t even purchase cigarettes or lottery tickets, would be able to buy a drug that allows them to have unprotected sex whenever they want?
This counteracts everything that women are taught in sexual education classes, which attempt to inject a sense of responsibility through their curriculum.
Sexually transmitted diseases could cause other problems. If women and men both know that there is a drug readily available that can prevent pregnancy without the use of condoms, sex without the use of condoms may rise. This in turn could cause the number of STDs to also rise.
These are only a few of the problems that could occur if the FDA were to eventually approve Plan B to be sold over-the-counter. If the nation wants to erase the problem of teen pregnancy, decrease the number of STD cases and also promote responsible safe sex, then it should spend more time and effort educating young women to have protected sex rather than promoting a drug that will provoke unsafe sex.
Erin Wiley writing for the editorial board.Plan B One Step offers emergency option
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