It's almost a relief to say that the battle to get emergency contraception approved to over-the-counter use seems... so long ago. So very Bush era. But in fact, one of the unresolved issues related to Plan B was that teenagers lack over-the-counter access. Studies have shown that the drug is safe for women of all ages. And yet, in what was clearly a decision rooted in moralizing not in science, the FDA chose to bar teens from buying Plan B without a prescription.
Well, it's a new day. A federal court ruled this week that the FDA must review its decision on preventing teens from buying Plan B over-the-counter.
In his ruling, Korman detailed repeated interference by "political actors" in the agency's handling of Plan B, including the long delay in approving the drug and the ultimate decision to act only after some senators tried to apply pressure by blocking confirmation of acting FDA commissioners. The agency's justification for its final decision "lacks all credibility," Korman said.
Right on. Now bring on the "sex-based cults"!
Related: (Wow, we've written a lot about Plan B!)
Walgreens harasses woman buying Plan B
It's a pregnancy test, not Plan B
Emergency Contraception approved for over-the-counter sale in Canada
Happy First Anniversary, Prescription-Free Plan B!
Federal Court: Pharmacists Can Refuse to Dispense EC
Conservatives say FDA politicized Plan B decision
Plan B-acklash
Over-the-counter Plan B: The First Month
Stores collecting information on Plan B users
White House subpoenaed over Plan B delay
Not over-the-counter, not even behind it...
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Plan B for teens? It's orgy time!.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/12772
I mean, naturally. Also, have we had something about how now that Guardasil is moving toward approval for males, the discourse surrounding the vaccine is moving from "but it encourages them to be sluts!" to "but is it safe and effective?" that I missed?
I found it, nevermind! Ridiculousness all around!
I am so grateful that the FDA must review that decision. As a college freshman, I know too many high school students who couldn't receive emergency contraception because they lacked a prescription. I think it's safe to say that because of this, teens who need emergency contraception will be able to actually receive some. Right On!
Damn, as I am no longer a teenager I will miss out on these teen sex cults of which you speak. Life was so much less fun back in my day...
I wonder how this ruling will affect store policies, if at all. My (male) partner attempted to purchase Plan B at our local Safeway, only to be told that they would not sell it to anyone other than the person who would be taking it, and they would need to see the ID of said person. I'm not entirely certain what the logic is there, but my state NARAL group doesn't seem too concerned with Safeway discriminating on the basis of gender, and Safeway's corporate office has yet to respond. I'm just hoping this ruling will perhaps allow him to buy all that Plan B for the teenage orgies we were planning.
I think thats one of the rules of sale. I've purchased it twice from two different chains, when I called to inquire about price they also had the same rule.
YAY! I feel like doing a little dance. I second the comment about having seen the difficulty this law imposed on college freshman, many of whom had not yet turned 18.
YAY! I feel like doing a little dance. I second the comment about having seen the difficulty this law imposed on college freshman, many of whom had not yet turned 18.
What unborn baby? Plan B is an emergency contraceptive (that's why they call it "EC"). Dictionary.com is your friend.
Hard to believe that it does not take effect until conception has happened.
Then you don't know how it works.
Wouldn't it stand to reason that if Plan B had the ability to abort a fetus, that there wouldn't only be a tiny window of time in which it's effective? I'm really not sure how you think it works, so I can't respond more than that, but I'm guessing that you're not operating off of medical facts here.
Plan B works by preventing ovulation by flooding the body with a lot of hormones and tricking it into thinking that it has already released an egg. These are the exact same hormones as found in birth control pills -- in fact, this is how hormonal birth control works, only instead of giving you a big blast like Plan B you get a steady stream of them, making a woman's cycle suspend and not develop any eggs ever, preventing conception from ever happening. If ovulation has already occurred, Plan B does nothing and you can still get pregnant. Trust me, my brother's ex is pregnant after taking Plan B (not by my brother) and she is having a very healthy pregnancy.
Science: it's what's for breakfast.
Sigh - it's at times like these that I really miss the ability to "down ding" comments...
I think your daughter would probably be better off without you knowing. I can't imagine people who troll feminist sites make good parents.
bluecollarphilosopher:
Three things:
First, you didn't state it explicitly, but you sound like part of the abstinence-only crowd. So let me just say that the stats indicate that comprehensive sex-ed, not ab-only teaching, reduces the incidence of teen pregnancy.
http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2006/12/01/index.html
Second, are you really getting on a feminist blog and suggesting that female objectification is even partly the fault of women because they dare (gasp!) to have sex without "consequences" instead of blaming the men who objectify for being hypocritical, sexist pigs? Seriously???
And last, since the subject of "parent's rights" seems to be coming up a lot recently in regard to contraception and abortion, what about minor's rights?
Like it or not, children are not completely at their parent's mercy. They have the right not to be beaten, raped, removed from school to work, among other things. IMO, the right for an underage girl not to be forced to carry a pregnancy to term against her will should absolutely be on that list because of the great mental or physical harm that could cause. No woman or girl deserves to go through that, even if she did commit the unforgivable sin of having sex.
This may come as a shock to you, but you do not own your daughter. She is not your property.
A second shock: EC is not an abortifacient.
A third shock: boys and men were enabling themselves to have sex lives free of consequences long, long, long before there were any medically approved methods of preventing pregnancy. Unlike the females of the species, male humans aren't actually able to get pregnant, and so men have been running out on pregnant women since, basically, sex existed.
So no, I don't think that the existence of emergency contraceptives or other contraceptive methods are somehow adding to the objectification of women - because giving women control over their own bodies is not objectification; treating women as if they are chattel IS.
First shock and third shock, and conclusion, are right on target.
I'm not so sure about the second. If EC prevents implantation, it is an abortifacient....which really is no big deal. Let's just hope it works.
Teenagers should have full access to reproductive health services, including Plan B. No doubt about it.
But why say for sure that EC is not an abortifacient, when it is impossible to know for sure? And when abortion, esp. early term, is perfectly ethical?
Anyone know if over-the-counter EC for minors will be enforced in pharmacies, etc (where there is a history of pharmacists denying women birth control/plan b)?