As you may have heard, the Obama administration, speaking thru Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, overruled the FDA approval of Plan B, the morning-after contraceptive, to girls younger than 17 without a prescription.
I’d imagine it’s because allowing it was too politically controversial. They don’t want people to say, “Look at Obama, letting kids buy birth control over the counter”, especially in the run up to the election.
Well…I’m not sure why it’s an issue that minors should need a prescription to get this. Can’t they get a prescription from a local clinic, if they don’t have a doctor or medical insurance or whatever? In fact, ISTM that like any drug that isn’t over the counter (I assume it’s not), it really requires a prescription whether the person is a minor or not. No?
Consider the need and the timeline. Unlike a headache, which may go away, if you are pregnant, you only have a short time to react. Getting an appointment with a doctor will jeopardize your chances.
And seriously, aren’t the kids who won’t go to the doctor to get a prescription exactly the ones we want to not have kids? The idea is to have as few barriers as possible because we absolutely positively don’t want these teenagers breeding, remember?
Ok, so what you are saying is this drug should be over the counter? It has no major side effects or issues? I’m good with that, personally, but I imagine that some folks might be tense on quasi-religious grounds. We are talking minors here, yes?
Couldn’t there have been a compromise, like setting the age at 14 or 15 instead of 17? Obama, speaking about this, talked of the issue of 10 and 11 years old girls buying this with bubble gum, so why not protect the children (won’t someone think of them?), but let the teens who might really need it, get it.
It is over the counter now, with an age restriction.
Half of all girls have sex before they are 17. That demographic is exactly the one Plan B is most useful for. We are talking about females of childbearing age.
An 11 year old that had unprotected sex is someone I’d want to have access to Plan B. The FDA declared that Plan B is safe to be sold to all females of childbearing age. There should not be any age restrictions.
Well, that’s nice and all, but maybe parents want to have some say about medications that their children might take. Right now, the age limit is 17. I propose it would better, if not perfect, to lower the age to 14.
I’m sure parents want to have some say about their children having sex or using contraception too. Doesn’t seem to work though, hence the need for emergency contraception.
This has a lot to do with it. In discussions on Christian boards I frequent, the “right” of vendors not to sell Plan B to young girls is being upheld even over their right to take it in cases of rape. The interesting thing about this is that they’re invoking the A-word: taking Plan B to prevent the lodging of a presumably fertilized ovum or blastula, as that ovum/blastula is a baby with a right to life, and presenting its lodging is actually an abortion. (Be clear that I’m reporting this, not advocating it.)
It’s not exactly surprising that religious nuts don’t understand the science of reproduction or contraception. Is their new slogan: “Life begins at penetration!”? A dose of hormones only prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg, similar to all other forms of contraception. If a woman already is pregnant, the morning-after pill has no effect.
One of my relations was working at hospital before plan B was available to minors. Catholic girl is admitted with intense unexplained pain in the abdomen. Once the required sex discussion without parents present occurs the girl tells them that she couldn’t tell her parents but that she was raped and needs the plan B pill. They give it to her and tell the parents that their tests revealed nothing abnormal and she was released. Very expensive for the medical system. At least the girl was bright enough to figure out how to prevent an unwanted pregnancy when her parents wouldn’t allow it, but she shouldn’t have had to do it that way.
I’m of a mixed mind when it comes to making Plan B totally OTC. I understand what Teva was trying to do in getting the FDA to get rid of the age restriction (to make it more accessible to everyone by putting it next to condoms in the family planning section). However, it is still a powerful drug, and I like the idea of it being behind the pharmacy counter so that I can actually counsel someone on how to take it, the side effects, and what she should expect after taking it.
Can we split the difference and eliminate the age requirement, but still have it sold behind the pharmacy counter?
I will say I’ve never denied it from anyone, however back when I was an intern, I did work with a pharmacist once who refused to sell it. I disagreed, but it was her license at the time. At least now I can make the call and give it to whoever asks.
Actually, this isn’t 100% true… Plan B has two effects, one, to prevent ovulation if it hasn’t yet occurred (the same as regular Birth Control Pills do), but it also has a secondary effect. It slightly changes the lining in the uterus making it harder for a fertilized embryo to implant. However, if the embryo has already implanted, Plan B will do absolutely NOTHING. At that point, you need to go to a doctor and get a script for another medication, which would cause an actual abortion (and I have filled scripts for it before also)
Most minors have access to condoms and the Pill and that’s not working.
I can see it from a few different angles. It is really weird to think that my daughter that I don’t have could get birth control without my knowing it.
At the point where your kid needs Plan B, no, actually, I don’t think the parents get a say. Either the kid’s been raped, in which case the parent has no business interfering with the kid’s reproductive decision, or the kid’s not been raped, in which case the kid is already making reproductive decisions. You might not be happy with that, but being a parent isn’t really about your happiness. This is one of those cases where your child’s wellbeing takes precedence over your own comfort level.
One minor problem: kids under 16 have no form of ID with their age on it, so there would be no way to even verify their age if there were an age limitation on it.
In case anyone is interested, it costs $35 for a dose of Plan B at Planned Parenthood, and more like $50 or $55 at a regular pharmacy. Very expensive.
Oh! Well, if it’s weird, let’s stop the whole fucking thing. Sure, more teenagers will be having babies they don’t want, but hey, wouldn’t want you to feel weird.