What's Right With The Picture?("morning-after" pills (EC)now available "over the counter" in Maine)

Times Record ^ | 04/01/2004 | Nancy Mosher

[fight_truth_decay]

A poster in my office reads, "77% of anti-abortion leaders are men. 100% of them will never be pregnant."

This could have been the caption for the now (in)famous photo of George W. Bush signing the nation's first abortion procedure ban, surrounded by the men who have wielded their political power to restrict access to family planning, emergency contraception and sexual health education — proven means of preventing unintended pregnancy.

But last Monday, the picture in Maine was different. On national Back Up Your Birth Control Day, Gov. John Baldacci held a signing ceremony for a new law that will make emergency contraception (EC) available through participating pharmacies, adding Maine to a list of only five other states willing to trust women and pharmacists to make emergency choices about a safe drug regime.

With Gov. Baldacci was a cadre of smiling Maine lawmakers and activists who have made it their mission to advance family life education, family planning services and access to a full range of reproductive health choices. These individuals helped cut our teen pregnancy rates by half over the past decade and, as a result, have significantly reduced the abortion rate in Maine. These legislators have refused to cut family planning services or restrict access to life-saving information for our young people. These advocates — a voice for the majority in Maine — have fought off countless anti-choice measures in the Maine legislature.

The facts are clear. In cases of contraceptive failure or in the event of rape or incest, EC is the best way to avoid pregnancy. This special combination of the same hormones in birth control pills greatly reduces the risk of pregnancy when started within 120 hours of unprotected intercourse. Sooner is better. EC works by delaying ovulation, preventing fertilization or preventing implantation. It has been used worldwide for more than two decades, with no known serious health problems; and if a woman is already pregnant, EC will not harm her pregnancy.

Doctors have long recommended emergency contraception to worried patients who asked for it. But recent research has shown that only a slim majority of American women know there's something they can do to prevent pregnancy following intercourse; and they're not even sure what it is or whether it's available in the United States. And that's a problem, since the sooner EC is administered, the better it works. Timely access is critically important.

For Maine women who experience contraceptive failure, unprotected sex or sexual assault, access to emergency contraception is soon going to get a whole lot easier. Once the rulemaking and pharmacist training portion of Maine's EC law is complete, women will be able to go directly to participating pharmacies for after-the-fact contraception — just like they can in more than 33 other countries. Easy accessibility and evening, weekend and holiday hours position pharmacies as a convenient and logical source for EC. No more worrying about a prescription on a weekend or a holiday; no more frantic trips to a doctor's office, family planning facility or emergency room.

The Bush administration recently pushed to put the brakes on an FDA advisory panel's approval of EC for over-the-counter status, despite its meeting all customary requirements for over-the-counter use — i.e., it is safe; there is no potential for overdose or addiction; no medical screening is necessary; the need it fills can be self-diagnosed; the dosage is uniform; and it has no important drug interactions. Contrary to the claims of some, it is not an abortifacient, and it does not interfere with an existing pregnancy.

Opposition to EC unmasks an extremist agenda to further unravel reproductive rights by trying to repackage standard birth control as a form of abortion.

At Planned Parenthood's four southern Maine health centers, we've dispensed nearly 11,000 cycles of EC since 1998, preventing immeasurable pain and worry and sparing the huge social and economic costs of unintended pregnancy. We'll continue to do so.

Unless or until condoms never slip, partners never allow passion to override precaution and sexual violence against women is eradicated, there will be a need for emergency contraception. During the rulemaking and pharmacist training process — and even after — EC will remain available through Planned Parenthood, family planning programs, private physicians and emergency rooms for Mainers seeking to back up their birth control.

Nancy Mosher is president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

[fight_truth_decay]

The World War II icon "Rosie the riveter," a symbol of female brass
during homeland war production, is now being used for the EC campaign.

From TeenWire.Com PPFA to Teen readers:
"France became the first country to offer EC in schools without parental consent. While many people in France see this as a great step in preventing unwanted pregnancies, others see it as a way of undermining the importance of prevention. Opponents of this new policy feel that it encourages young people to have sex and diminishes parental roles.

In the U.S., even though parental consent is not needed, EC isn't available in schools yet. However, Congress recently rejected an amendment to federal law that would have prohibited the use of federal funds to provide EC in schools. So, it looks like there might still be hope to provide EC in U.S. school clinics, but only time will tell."

Rosie may pictorially be seen exercising her brass; but Rosie is still the one "taking the pill", not Rodney!

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adding Maine to a list of only five other states willing to trust women and pharmacists to make emergency choices about a safe drug regime.

In what way does the pharmacist make an "emergency choice" about the use of these pills? Does the woman have to have a talk with the pharmacist before he'll sell her these pills? If so, what confidentiality is attached to that conversation?

I don't really have a big problem with true "day after" contraception. I've heard that a huge percentage of fertilized eggs never implant, and I don't believe that all of those eggs represented little people who died before being born or even being implanted in the womb. A pill that encourages this process doesn't bother me, but I don't think that the pharmacist should have a voice in the decision. Either the drug is okay for a woman to buy on her own or the drug should be prescribed by a doctor.

Ready for a Repeat
Bill