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Produced for LMC-TVbyFran Snedeker |
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Produced for LMC-TVbyFran Snedeker |
Should the morning after pill be available without a prescription? The morning after pill is an emergency contraceptive and a method to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse. So why shouldn't it be available to anyone who wants it?
On August 26, 2005 the FDA again postponed the decision to make Plan B available over the counter. Barr Laboratories had introduced a plan to make Plan B available over the counter to women age 16 and over, while requiring a prescription for those under 16.
The FDA postponed their decision saying that the request was unusual and may not be legal or enforcable. The organization also planned on seeking public comment before moving forward on the issue. The FDA did agree that Plan B would be safe as an over the counter product for older women, but was concerned about the prescription enforcement for teens.
"These are profound regulatory decisions that cut to the heart of our work," FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford said in a statemen. "The answers to these questions can establish very broad and far-reaching policies that could have a significant effect on the way FDA regulates many different drugs."
Health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society for Adolescent Medicine, are urging the FDA to reconsider its decision. They state that there is adequate safety information available and that an insert could be included with the prescription to contact a physician after using the medication.
The morning after pill was originally created in the 1960s as treatment for rape victims. In the early 1990s nearly one-third of emergency contraception prescriptions were being written for rape victims. Since that time there has been a great effort to bring awareness to emergency conctraception and make it available to women in a more timely fashion.
The morning after pill does not protect against sexually transmitted infections.
The morning after pill acts as contraception by delaying ovulation, preventing fertilization, or inhibiting implantation by altering the endometrium. It is not effective if a woman is pregnant and cannot terminate an established pregnancy.
On May 6th, 2004 the Food and Drug Administration decided not to allow Plan B, one brand of a progestin-only morning after pill, to be available over the counter. This went against two advisory committees that had recommended, in a 23-4 vote in December, 2003, to make it available to the public without prescription. The FDA offered Barr Pharmaceutical, the manufacturer of Plan B, two options before again seeking approval. The first option was that they could provide data indicating that Plan B is safe for women under the age of 16 to use without medical supervision. The second option was that they could offer the drug as a prescription for women under the age of 16, and without a prescription for women 16 years and older.
Proponents of the morning after pill don't believe that offering it over the counter will promote increased unprotective sex. Instead, because it is more effective the sooner it is taken after having unprotected sex, there is easier access if it is available over the counter. If a woman has to wait too long to see a physician and get the presciption filled, she may become pregnant... and then she's forced to deal with a whole new set of options.
Planned Parenthood says that the morning after pill could prevent as many as half of the three million unintended pregnancies in the United States each year.
Opponents of the morning after pill believe that selling it over the counter encourages irresponsible sexual behavior and promiscuity. Christian groups want a warning on the label to make users aware that it may prevent implantation after conception. Some pro-life groups have launched national campaigns claiming that the morning after pill and emergency contraception is an abortifacient. A few individual pharmacists have even refused to fill out prescriptions.
Some physicians feel that steroid hormones should not be available over the counter. In some rare instances it may cause side effects (including changes to a woman's menstrual cycle) and some feel that the it should be administered under a physician's care.