Posted on 03/24/2009 7:02:16 AM PDT by meandog
(CNSNews.com) – A federal court in New York on Monday expanded teenagers’ access to Plan B – also known as the morning-after pill or emergency contraception.
The court gave the Food and Drug Administration 30 days to make Plan B available over the counter to 17 year olds. Right now, the pill is available over the county only to those 18 years and up.
Pro-life groups are dismayed that 17-year-old girls will now have unrestricted access to a drug that can produce abortion by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. But abortion rights groups celebrated the ruling, saying it takes politics out of science.
"Today's ruling is a tremendous victory for all Americans who expect the government to safeguard public health," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which brought the lawsuit against the FDA.
"The message is clear -- the FDA should put medical science first and leave politics at the lab door. We are encouraged that the agency, now under new leadership, will take that message to heart."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Some Random Thoughts:
Bush Administration ruled the age to use it at 18. Now it’s 17. Not a big difference ... I do understand the parental right issue which brings me to my next point:
Parent’s rights are always over-ruled by government knows best judges... this is nothing new. It has been on-going.
But then I thought about this issue:
A child’s decision involving pregnancy issues can not be kept from a parent ... It is the parent’s right to know, However, IMO a parent can not make a decision for the child involving the pregnancy without the child’s agreement, unless it involves a medical situation ...
Hmmm ...
Regardless,
The morning after pill is a lot BETTER alternative than Abortion.
No, it actually injects politics into it. It is an affront to parents and a gift to adults who are grooming these kids for hypersexuality.
The college psychologists who deal with the aftermath of teen sexuality, abortion and the modern sex game - hooking up, will tell you just how devastating all this feminism is on the feminine sex. These girls play along and have friends with benefits, hoping to land a meaningful relationship. In the end their self-esteem is shot, they feel like dirt and it takes years to stabilize them.
If we taught Drivers Ed like we teach Sex Ed our roadways would be deathtraps.
Here you are again today with an insightful comment. Are you really a professor?
At least the alcohol issue has a constitutional amendment to go along with it ...
No American is allowed to consume any street drug recreationally, or consume a street drug even if it has a medical benefit and is doctor prescribed because of an unconstitutional law voted on by no one ...
Medical Marijuana via doctor prescription has been voted for by the people in many states, yet the Feds restrict access using unconstitutional means such as the Scheduling acts.
Sure, its ok to put massive amounts of engineered chemicals in your body, but you can not smoke something naturally growing such as pot.
Its for our children ...
Please please please don’t use any argument made by me to pursue any argument defending medical MJ, recreational MJ, or even MJ flavored jelly beans.
My argument goes only to the age at which one is allowed to make decisions which are legal yet age restricted.
If you want to comment on which items are legal leave me the heck out of it. I’ve seen up close and personal the destruction that comes with supposedly safe recreational drugs. I’ve never used the stuff and never intend to, but I’ve been the one left to pick up the broken pieces of shattered families on more than one occasion.
Thanks for the kind words. I try my best to have understanding of an issue and help others gain understanding.
There are “alternative medicine” sources that describe using vitamin C to induce abortion. None of them seem more than anecdotal “I’ve taken megadoses of vitamin C ten times and I’ve never gotten pregnant!” A quick search of medical literature doesn’t show anything of importance and obstetricians don’t warn their patients about vit. C.
I’ve looked at the literature on Plan B and its proponents make claims for both prevention of implantation and for no such thing but there is nothing definitive - I wish there were.
My own thought is that it shouldn’t prevent implantation by making the uterine lining inhospitable, because progesterone naturally rises after ovulation in any case.
I’m not disagreeing with you on 17 year olds making poor choices when it comes to what’s safe and smart, and what isn’t with regard to OTC meds. However, I don’t think most women/girls can afford to pop a $30+ pill (or 2) every week. Plus, they’d continually be getting spotting and/or a period and let’s face it - nothing can crash a party for a “party gal” quicker than that.
Good points.
I’ve read quite a bit about ascorbic acid in high doses being used to attempt abortion. All anecdotal since I don’t know anyone personally who has done this, nor would I want to. I think it’s more of an herbalists drug of choice, along with black cohosh and a few others.
“The morning after pill is a lot BETTER alternative than Abortion.:
Bingo. But there are MANY who think the morning after pill is abortion. Unfortunately.
It was the Food and Drug Administration (a federal agency) which had allowed Plan B to be sold over the counter only to 18 year olds. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, federal courts can reverse any decision of a federal agency that is "arbitrary, capricious or not in accordance with law." It appears that the basis for the decision is that the FDA was "arbitrary" because it ignored the recommendation of own panel of scientific advisors.
Read the package inserts from the manufacturer. Every hormonal birth control on the market -- EVERY one -- does three things: (1) it may prevent ovulation if taken at the right point in the cycle; (2) it thickens cervical mucus so sperm can't penetrate; and (3) it makes implantation in the uterine lining impossible, causing the already-conceived baby to die.
Who's been granted access to the 17-year old girls?
Cheers!
It’s my feeling that while regular use of hormonal contraception for several months can change the lining of the uterus so that it becomes inhospitable, a one-day spike of progesterone during a natural cycle should not affect the lining that has already developed, especially if taken so close to the time of ovulation that it fails to prevent ovulation, or if taken afterward.
The literature is poor, and if emergency contraception researchers cared about the ethical issues involving a fertilized egg, or cared about the ethical autonomy and responsibility of women taking these pills, it would likely be more definitive.
Yes, but the actual studies done on this have shown that it doesn’t affect implantation at all...so, the implantation claim is weak, at best.
Just for reference, here is the ruling of the court.
http://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/rulings/cv/2005/05cv366mofinal.pdf
Your responses are the best out of what I’ve seen so far.
It is ironic that the “feminist” groups are crowing about this as being a triumph of science over morality, of “health” over politics. It is no such thing. Politics trumped both science and health concerns here.
Leaving all morality questions aside, where are the studies that show that it’s safe to use this Plan B on a weekly (or more frequent) basis? While it may pose minimal risk to use this once or twice in a lifetime, establishing minimal risk for one-time use is a FAR cry from establishing that it’s completely safe for bi-weekly use.
Human nature and liberal fantasies being what they are, it’s certain that when Plan B went OTC for women over 18, a number of women decided to make it their primary form of birth control, no doubt keeping a supply of it on hand so that they can pop one after every date. They’re already guinea-pigs for long-term sequelae studies of frequent drug use—why add teenagers to the guinea-pig population?
It’s ironic that there would have to be a human-use review board to formally approve such a study, which requires full consent forms from study participants. But it’s okay to use ordinary women for a massive study, no consent form required—after all, this is “reproductive health” we’re talking about here, which traditionally puts women’s health at the lowest priority, way below politics and profits.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.