# What Would Dopers Do - Contraception Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862 "2011-05-14T02:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/41 "2011-05-15T15:21:40Z")
Condoms- sure, no problem. Plan B- no. Just…no. It would involve fraudulently obtaining medication, and I’m really not OK with that. Would I give them a ride to another pharmacy, their GP, a family planning clinic, young people’s health clinic or A&E- yes. FWIW- you’re being ripped off again in the USA. Here (Northern Ireland) you have the following options. Get it free on prescription from your GP (mostly scripts are issued after a phone conversation, not a face-to-face consultation). Get it free from an A&E or family planning clinic- which will involve several hours wait. Pay £25 and get it OTC from a pharmacy (over 16 only). Each prescription for the single tablet costs the NHS £15, or £5 if the GP prescribes the generic 2 tablets. I do maybe 2 phone requests every week for emergency contraception. I haven’t yet needed to turn a request down. Apart from slight nausea, and possibly making the next period early or late, there aren’t many side effects. You do need to make sure the person knows that it isn’t 100% effective, may not prevent ectopic pregnancy, won’t end an established pregnancy, doesn’t work prospectively, can interact with certain medications and is being taken in the right window after sex. [The UK website for Levonorgestrel post-coital contraception](http://www.levonelle.co.uk/index.htm) has a pharmacy locator, so we could even find out where else they could get it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/42 "2011-05-15T15:25:25Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > If I was able to be impregnated, I would also get it and carry it with me on a regular basis [when I was traveling] because shit happens, and I got pregnant 3 times on birth control. > > If I was an indian , my 3 kids would have been named Ortho Novum Don’t Work, Ortho Novum Don’t Work, Condom Broke and You have got to be fucking with me, I had my tubes tied 10 years ago … and before you get stupid, yes I was using birth control correctly all 3 times [how does one use a tubal incorrectly:confused:] I don’t need to be lectured on birth control failure, thanks. I’ve got one of my own. I’m not “stupid” and I don’t blame people for birth control failure. But I’m wondering how someone on oral contraceptives (that is the only prescribed birth control you can pick up at a pharmacy, to my knowledge) knows there’s been a failure in time for Plan B to be an option. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/43 "2011-05-15T15:37:29Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I don’t need to be lectured on birth control failure, thanks. I’ve got one of my own. I’m not “stupid” and I don’t blame people for birth control failure. But I’m wondering how someone on oral contraceptives (that is the only prescribed birth control you can pick up at a pharmacy, to my knowledge) knows there’s been a failure in time for Plan B to be an option. I was wondering that, too. Other than realizing you’ve forgotten a pill, how would you know it malfunctioned? ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/44 "2011-05-15T15:39:02Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But I’m wondering how someone on oral contraceptives (that is the only prescribed birth control you can pick up at a pharmacy, to my knowledge) knows there’s been a failure in time for Plan B to be an option. You can also get the Nuva Ring and medroxyprogesterone (depo) at the pharmacy, but unless you are an RN they usually schedule an appointment to have the depo administered in the office. I would guess if the poster has a history of missing pills or not taking them at the same time every day, they may use Plan B as a backup option? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/45 "2011-05-15T15:42:01Z")
Assuming it’s legal for a 17yr old and not a 15y old, I’d buy the Plan B for the girl but not the boy. Don’t want to get in trouble with the law for a stranger’s sake. Condoms are always legal though, so they get a handful and a pat on the head to go have fun 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/46 "2011-05-15T15:51:29Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > You can also get the Nuva Ring and medroxyprogesterone (depo) at the pharmacy, but unless you are an RN they usually schedule an appointment to have the depo administered in the office. I would guess if the poster has a history of missing pills or not taking them at the same time every day, they may use Plan B as a backup option? Good point (why do I \*always \*forget about the Nuva Ring?) but again…with either of those (or the Patch), you won’t know you’ve had a failure until it’s too late for Plan B. Anyway, I was just curious as to what I was missing. Personally, I \*hope \ ***Maiira** ’s handing Plan B out to women to need it! That would be wonderful and kind. And expensive. And I’m not stupid. Dammit. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/47 "2011-05-15T16:19:46Z")
I don’t think anyone’s implying that you are, **WhyNot**. I guess maybe they are taking one every month just in case, especially if they have a history of failing contraception. And I forgot about Ortho Evra too. But I have not seen that maintain its popularity as much as the ring. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/48 "2011-05-15T16:34:48Z")
I would buy condoms. Plan B is another story though, since it involves putting chemicals inside your body. I would need to know the person who was asking and need to know them and their situation quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/49 "2011-05-15T16:42:56Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I would buy condoms. Plan B is another story though, since it involves putting chemicals inside your body. I would need to know the person who was asking and need to know them and their situation quite well. Why? The pharmacist dispensing the drug doesn’t need to know them. A lot of people in this thread are assuming that Plan B is a complicated or dangerous drug. However, it is available over the pharmacist’s counter, it doesn’t require a prescription, and the instructions for its use are no more complicated than the instructions on any other over-the-counter medication. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/50 "2011-05-15T16:59:07Z")
There are a lot of over the counter drugs that I would not buy for strangers or kids who are just aquintances, not just Plan B. I wouldn’t buy them alcohol or cigarettes if they asked, why would I buy them drugs? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/51 "2011-05-15T17:12:47Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I was wondering that, too. Other than realizing you’ve forgotten a pill, how would you know it malfunctioned? I’ve been pregnant three times. Each time, I just knew when it happened. I can’t tell you how I knew, I just knew. And that includes the time when I got pregnant on the Pill. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/52 "2011-05-15T21:07:11Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I’ve been pregnant three times. Each time, I just knew when it happened. I can’t tell you how I knew, I just knew. And that includes the time when I got pregnant on the Pill. Confirmation bias? That is, you’ve had moments of panic or intuition in the past but forgot about them because they didn’t result in pregnancy and are only remembering the ones that did? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/53 "2011-05-15T22:19:49Z")
I guess I’m weird. I wouldn’t do it, not because I’m against condoms, but because I am not the child’s parent. I don’t like the idea of helping someone else get around their parents wishes. Plus, asking strangers to buy something for you is just something you don’t do. I’d tell the kid there are some in gas station bathrooms, and leave it at at that. And I am not buying anyone I don’t know medication. If I knew of a clinic, I might mention that, but that’s as far as I’ll go. Let someone qualified deal with this. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/54 "2011-05-15T22:36:09Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Confirmation bias? That is, you’ve had moments of panic or intuition in the past but forgot about them because they didn’t result in pregnancy and are only remembering the ones that did? I very much doubt it. First of all, each time I was terrified, and I immediately started trying to get an abortion. Second, other women have reported this happening to them, too. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/55 "2011-05-15T22:38:48Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Confirmation bias? I don’t know; we’ve discussed it in other threads and many women (me included) report the same “just knowing” phenomenon. No logical explanation for it whatsoever. So yeah, maybe that’s why buying Plan B when you’re on hormonal birth control makes sense. Sadly, it seems like **Maiira** ’s not going to come back and share her answer. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/56 "2011-05-15T23:18:53Z")
I forgot to click the option to buy condoms for a girl, so the one vote discrepancy is on me, but it wasn’t intentional. I’m not sure what i’d do about plan B. I don’t know enough about it. Would they really sell it to a guy? Are there questions I’d have to answer, lies I’d have to tell? I’m not sure I’d go to the bother for a stranger. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/57 "2011-05-15T23:33:02Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I buy whatever for anybody. I don’t give a shit. +1. If you’re old enough to have sex, you’re old enough to take plan B too. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/58 "2011-05-15T23:34:39Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Would they really sell it to a guy? Are there questions I’d have to answer, lies I’d have to tell? I’m not sure I’d go to the bother for a stranger. From the [FDA](http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm109783.htm): > [@](#): > > 7b. Can men purchase Plan B? (added 12/14/2006) > > Yes. Plan B OTC is approved to allow OTC availability of Plan B for consumers 18 years and older. Plan B remains available by prescription only for women 17 years and younger. [This was changed](http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm149568.htm)to allow the OTC sale to “women 17 and older” in 2009, which confused some people. Walgreens made the news when two of their pharmacists refused to sell it to men, but quickly responded to complaints from [legal and consumer groups:](http://www.aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/it-takes-two-tango) > [@](#): > > Walgreens recently issued a bulletin to all of their pharmacies nationwide instructing them that emergency contraception can be sold to “male and female customers age 17 and older.” The bulletin also said that a male customer who asks to purchase emergency contraception need not be “accompanied by a female, and does not need to identify the individual for whom he is purchasing the product.” ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/59 "2011-05-16T00:16:03Z")
**WhyNot** has already clarified, but no they do not ask questions of you besides what your age is, male or female. So no lying on the girl or boy’s behalf would be necessary, just request the product, pay, and leave. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862/60 "2011-05-16T00:16:38Z")
> [@](#): > > If you’re old enough to have sex, you’re old enough to take plan B too. Taking Plan B might not be a good idea, depending on an individual female’s health, though, which is why I wouldn’t buy it in this situation. I don’t think that 15 year olds are generally old enough to be having sex, but I’d rather buy them condoms and have the kids use the rubbers than have the kids go ahead and do it bareback. I’d probably think that an individual 15 year old IS mature enough to have sex if s/he’s willing to buy condoms before sex. I remember being 15, and horny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-dopers-do-contraception-edition/581862.md?page=4)