Posted on 08/22/2006 12:19:08 PM PDT by Pyro7480
Bush gives support for emergency contraceptive without prescription
Bill Sammon, The Examiner
Aug 22, 2006 5:00 AM (10 hrs ago)
WASHINGTON - On Monday, President Bush endorsed over-the-counter sales of a morning-after pill that those against abortion say can cause early-term abortions, although he said prescriptions should be required for minors.
The president’s remarks, which came in response to questions by The Examiner, infuriated anti-abortion groups who said underage girls will merely obtain the pill, known as Plan B, from boyfriends and others who are 18 or older. Pro-abortion groups cheered the president’s remarks, saying he was abandoning years of opposition to Plan B.
“I believe that Plan B ought to require a prescription for minors,” Bush said at a news conference in the White House press corps’s temporary offices near the West Wing.
Bush also stood by the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, who told Plan B’s makers last month: “We believe that the appropriate age for [over-the-counter] access is 18.” Such comments have prompted anti-abortion groups to demand that Bush withdraw his nomination of Eschenbach as the permanent commissioner.
“I support Andy’s decisions,” Bush said Monday.
Currently, women need a prescription to obtain Plan B, which can terminate a pregnancy within 72 hours of conception by preventing a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus.
That amounts to an early-term abortion, say those against the practice, who generally believe life begins at conception.
“The president must demonstrate a consistent respect for the sanctity of all human life or he risks provoking a great divorce with the conservative Catholics that compromise a large part of his support base,” said the Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International.
Euteneuer said Bush’s support for Plan B “is completely inconsistent with his recent veto of the embryonic stem cell research funding bill. What the president apparently fails to realize is that Plan B kills the same innocent unborn children that the ESCR process does.”
Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, said she was “surprised” by Bush’s comments.
“This represents a turnaround in the position of the administration, which has been opposed to making Plan B available over the counter,” she told The Examiner. “It’s a step in the right direction. And I hope it means that the FDA will approve Plan B for over-the-counter use this week.”
White House spokesman Emily Lawrimore defended the president’s position on minors.
“We have been assured that the FDA recognizes the critical distinction between minors and adults, and the risks a drug like this can pose,” she said. “It will insist on stringent conditions and restrictions on access to reduce both health risks and opportunities for abuse, especially to protect minors.”
In every case we know that fertilization has not taken place?
That's not correct. Look it up. One of the ways in which this drug works is by the mechanism of preventing implantation.
>>>This drug induces an abortion, terminating a human life.>>>
No it doesn't, it prevents a life from forming in the first place.
>>>There are also questions about its safety for the mother.>>>
That is BS. There is plenty of stuff OTC that can be misused and sometimes unsafe.
I am FOR this as it prevents abortion in my opinion. If you can stop it BEFORE a life is formed (before egg meets sperm), then you can prevent a person from waiting until they are 8 weeks and having an abortion.
JMO though and I feel the flames coming on.
>>>In every case we know that fertilization has not taken place?>>>
This pill does not END a pregancy, it is not designed for that. It PREVENTS the egg from attaching (if I'm understanding it correctly). No different in my mind than birth control pills that prevent the egg from releasing.
But, the point is the drug does not only prevent ovulation, in some cases it aborts a fertilized egg. It is not always simply that ovulation is suppressed. Each case is different.
It depends on when the drug is taken and where she is in the cycle and if fertilization has taken place.
That's the idea behind Plan B. "It prevents pregnancy mainly by stopping the release of an egg," says the manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. However, Barr adds, the drug "may also prevent the fertilization of an egg" or prevent a fertilized egg "from attaching to the uterus."
There is plenty of evidence that the pill does end preganancy. Why do you think it is so highly effective? It not only suppresses ovulation, but it can change the uterine lining and prevent implantation in certain cases.
Yes, it has caused death; also, it doesn't always work. Maybe if GW had EVER been in the real world he would know these facts. I am so tired of elitists of either party who think the "little people" are dumb as dirt - and then legislate based on the opinions of other elitists.
>>>It depends on when the drug is taken and where she is in the cycle and if fertilization has taken place.>>>
It takes 10 days for the ovum to implant in the uterus. That in my opinion is not a 'baby' at that point. Medically speaking, that isn't even 'conception'.
You think a fertilized egg, not implanted, is not a human? How long does the egg need to be implanted before you deem it a human?
>>>You think a fertilized egg, not implanted, is not a human?>>>
Nope. I think it is an ovum. As I said, that is my opinion.
Nope, it is a zygote. Conception has happend. Life has begun.
The notion that life begins at implantation is a deathist lie, designed to obfuscate the issue of the contraceptive pill.
Life begins at fertilization.
Kinky Friedman supports it, too.
I do not like either position.
Malthusian-Trotskyites, all.
That's RU 486.
And even if GW was head over heels better than either choice in both elections, and I donated money to him twice, as well as votes cast, I don't believe it is out of place to be critical of him when "I" choose.
But thanks for the post and have a great day!
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