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| Another sign America is rolling downhill |
Itsdb |
12/08/06 |
Dec. 7, 2006, 7:13PM
By DAVID CRARY
Associated Press
NEW YORK — A month after distribution began, the over-the-counter version of the morning-after pill is now available at pharmacies nationwide. Planned Parenthood celebrated Wednesday with a free giveaway of the emergency contraceptive, while critics insisted that Plan B's accessibility will soon be a cause for regret.
Plan B was the focus of bitter debate for years before the Food and Drug Administration, after repeated delays, declared in August that customers 18 and older should be able to buy it in pharmacies without a prescription.
The manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals, then needed to develop new packaging for the over-the-counter version; it announced the start of national distribution on Nov. 6.
Plan B, a high dose of a drug found in many regular birth-control pills, can lower the chance of pregnancy by up to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. Girls 17 and younger still need a prescription to buy Plan B, though an older person — male or female — could buy it over the counter on a teenage girl's behalf.
Supporters of Plan B had sought over-the-counter approval on the premise that wider availability would reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions.
Critics of the drug challenge those claims, arguing that Plan B will promote promiscuity and unsafe sex; they warn that men might coerce underage partners into using it. Some critics also consider the pill tantamount to abortion, although it differs from the abortion pill RU-486 and has no effect on women who are already pregnant.
Carol Cox, a Barr Pharmaceuticals spokeswoman, said the Plan B distribution went smoothly, but she would not specify how many pills were issued. She said the company does not expect detailed sales information until February. The cost varies. Kate Horle, with Planned Parenthood in Colorado, said prices there range from $30 at her group's clinics to $61 at some supermarkets.
While some independent pharmacies are not stocking Plan B because of moral objections or perceived lack of demand, the pill is widely available. Chains such as CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens pledge to ensure that customers can buy Plan B onsite even if an employee declines to provide service for reasons of conscience. Planned Parenthood centers also sell the pill.
On Wednesday, in celebration of Plan B's expanded availability, the pills were given away free at more than 350 Planned Parenthood centers in 30 states.
Planned Parenthood's vice president for medical affairs, Dr. Vanessa Cullins, urged women to back up their regular birth control by keeping emergency contraception in their medicine cabinet.
Some critics spoke of pushing state legislation to curtail access to it. "The battle is not over," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America. Four states — Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and South Dakota — allow pharmacists to opt out of providing emergency contraceptives.
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Regardless of your view on the subject, isn't it a little sad that the nation's largest provider of abortions would 'celebrate' with a giveaway, so EC could "be in every woman’s medicine cabinet?" How did we get to the point that life has such little value, and I still want to know how those 'progressives' can whine about terrorist's rights and war casualites while abortion is their holy grail of issues?
And on that note, I would encourage every 'pro-choice' individual to watch In the Womb: Animals on the National Geographic Channel this Sunday night. Let me know if while watching that baby dolphin swim in its mother's womb if you go "awww, how cute." Then tell me why. |
Clarification/Follow-up by Itsdb on 12/08/06 5:43 pm:
tom, in a little research on this today I came across another despicable group that's all too eager to ruin our youth. Advocates for Youth "works intensively each year with statewide, teen pregnancy prevention coalitions to increase youth's awareness of and access to EC. Advocates for Youth offers resources, technical assistance, networking, and training to selected state coalitions."
I honestly cannot understand people like AFY and PP who seem to want every kid in America having sex, whenever, wherever and with whoever and don't give a damn about parent's rights or wishes, or the consequences that go along with it. Disgusting.
Steve
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