When Assistant FDA Commissioner Susan F. Wood resigned from her position after the Food and Drug Administration postponed the approval for an over-the-counter morning after pill, Bush callously said “you can’t just pop a pill and resurrect your career.” What Bush doesn’t understand is that the move was not about a career, but about pushing women’s rights into the new millennium. Despite conservative knee-jerk reactions to anything pertaining to abortion, the facts were not considered in the case. Well, they were considered – but mainly by men. Getting back to the point, the morning after pill is not an abortion pill. If a woman is already pregnant, the Plan B pill doesn’t terminate the pregnancy. It prevents fertilization or ovulation and can reduce pregnancy risk by 89 percent. In fact, it’s roughly the equivalent of taking two birth control pills at a time, which has proven to be safe and is quite routine for those of us women with faulty memories and sex lives. The main reason cited for the FDA’s decision was that it would be too easy for females under the age of 17 to access the pill and would encourage teenage promiscuity. If we’re seeking to avoid encouraging teenage promiscuity, then why are shows like “The O.C.” so heavily marketed to them? Why do the fashions and marketing promotions in teenage magazines feature sex and skin so prominently? Sex, and the pressure to have sex, assails teens from all sides, no matter how many inane abstinence talks authority gives them or how many drugs they prohibit. The pill won’t add to teenage promiscuity, but it will aid in rectifying a foolish mistake that could unfairly haunt someone for the rest of their life.To address the teenage promiscuity problem, Barr Laboratories amended its request and stipulated that only women 16 and older could receive the pill without a doctor’s note. This, while it seems reasonable, is apparently unacceptable, as well. One of the reasons cited was that teenagers could have an adult buy the pill for them, thus negating the purpose of the age restriction. In still refusing to approve the morning after pill, the FDA has slapped responsible women of America in the face. It is denying us further control of our bodies and sex lives, things which should be irrefutable rights. Of course, it makes sense that men play such a part in denying this freedom – they are relatively free of the responsibilities and consequences of pregnancies. But stop and think what a blessing this drug would be to rape victims or overwhelmed mothers of already large families. Stop and think of the number of unwanted pregnancies that would be prevented a year. Stop and think that, since this pill prevents pregnancy, it could also reduce the number of abortions by an estimated 750,000 per year. Doesn’t that make all you conservatives happy? Apparently not, considering the decision of the FDA and the smug glee of those opposing Plan B.There is hope on the horizon, however. Seven states have already approved the morning-after pill from behind the counter with no age restrictions. I applaud those states and Susan Wood for standing up for and recognizing a right that is being kept from American women without sufficient or plausible reason.(And by the way, Bush, you can’t pop a pill and undo the irreparable harm you have done to our nation with the Iraq war and shamefully sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina. Too bad there’s no morning after pill for that, eh?)
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Plan B prevents pregnancy
September 15, 2005
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