Emergency Contraception: Sold OTC across US

Planned Parenthood centers all over U.S. distributed emergency contraceptive Plan B for free last Wednesday to herald the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to sell them over the counter nation wide without prescription to women 18 years old and above.

Plan B or the “morning-after-pill” should be taken within 12 to 72 hours after unprotected sex to reduce the risk of pregnancy by at most 75%, according to studies by the World Health Organization and from the Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc’s “Plan B Full Prescribing Information”.

Barr Laboratories, manufacturer of Plan B, sells its product at an exclusive preferential discount to Planned Parenthood. It began selling the emergency contraception under the new ruling last November 6.

The FDA’s decision was welcomed by abortion rights advocates saying that it will lower rates of abortion and unplanned pregnancies. Abortion opponents, meanwhile, believe that Plan B is abortifacient and may even be unsafe for women due to the high doses of hormones it contains.

A study cited in Forbes magazine last September reported that emergency contraception does not lower abortion rates. Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association also published evidence that showed females are not more likely to have unprotected sex if they have Plan B on hand.

But since emergency contraception was originally intended as treatment for victims of rape or sexual assault, selling of the pill as an over-the-counter drug entails much responsibility on the side of the consumers.

Emergency contraception expert Anna Glasier said "It is better than nothing and worth the fuss... if you are a woman who has had unprotected sex”. But she also believes that the emergency pill may not be the solution to the high rates of abortion and that people should be encouraged to use contraception before or during sex.

Pharmacies nationwide also exhibited different reactions to the FDA’s decision. Some even choose not too stock on the emergency contraception citing moral reasons.