Over The Counter Contraceptive Pill Will Not Reduce Unplanned Pregnancies, Says Expert

PhysOrg ^ | December 24th, 2008

[CE2949BB]

Making the contraceptive pill available without prescription will not reduce unwanted pregnancies, says an expert in an article published on bmj.com today.

Sarah Jarvis from the Royal College of Physicians argues that it is a lack of daily compliance with taking oral contraceptives which is partly responsible for the high rates of unintended teenage pregnancies in the UK.

[CE2949BB]

Instead of posting three threads, I picked the article from PhysOrg as an introduction to the debate.

Sarah Jarvis' position is one side of a two person debate featured on the British Medical Journal's website.

Daniel Grossman argues that the policy should be widely adopted but Sarah Jarvis believes it is the wrong approach to reducing unplanned pregnancy.

There's a poll, too. :)

[NonValueAdded]

Unintended (?) consequence, at least if this were done in the states: pill mfgs would eventually face a tobacco / asbestos scope class action due to an increase in cancers, etc. That the risk is well known means nothing.

[Tax-chick]

Captain Obvious should be here. Availability of any kind of contraceptives is not a significant issue; non-use or incorrect use is.

[reg45]

Contraceptives and abortifacients, which profoundly affect a woman's hormonal balance, should not be available without a prescription. There are too many side effects, which if not properly monitored by a physician could be dangerous.

[Hyzenthlay]

I agree, and of course, the group that’s going to be most likely to get OTC birth control is teenage girls who don’t want their parents knowing, and they’re also more likely to be least aware of the risks and more likely to use them improperly and get pregnant anyways as a result. Heck, I’ve known of girls who thought that ‘sneaking’ a birth control pill from their mom’s or older sister’s pack before having sex would protect them from getting pregnant, like birth control was something to be taken on an as-needed basis...