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Good news for Plan B

NYT:

In a 23-to-4 vote, two expert advisory committees to the Food and Drug Administration recommended Tuesday that a so-called morning-after pill to prevent unintended pregnancies be sold over the counter.

The F.D.A. usually follows its committees' advice, although the final decision rests with its commissioner, Dr. Mark B. McClellan. But the overwhelming vote by the agency's outside advisers led proponents as well as opponents to expect that Dr. McClellan would go along with the committees, making his decision within weeks to months.

The drug is an emergency contraceptive known as Plan B, to be taken when regular contraception either fails or is skipped. Consisting of two high-dose birth control pills, Plan B is meant to be used within 72 hours after unprotected sexual intercourse and may prevent up to 89 percent of unplanned pregnancies.

If approved, widespread availability of Plan B could have an impact second only to the advent of the birth control pill, advocates say. The proponents, including groups like Planned Parenthood, argued to the panel that Plan B was safe and could prevent as many as half of the three million unintended pregnancies in the United States each year.

Despite the best efforts of right winger types to paint Plan B as an abortion pill, an FDA committee is recommending that it be sold over the counter. Right now, Plan B is available via prescription, but is not stocked in many pharmacies due to lobbying efforts by anti-abortion groups. Plan B is a contraceptive. It is not the abortion pill:

There is considerable public confusion about the difference between emergency contraception and medical abortion because of misinformation disseminated by anti-choice groups. Emergency contraception helps prevent pregnancy; medical abortion terminates pregnancy.

Let your pharmacy know that you will expect them to stock this safe and proven product for over the counter sales as soon as it becomes legal to do so.

Emergency contraception has been available for more than 25 years and could prevent 1.7 million unintended pregnancies and 800,000 abortions each year in the U.S. It is a safe and effective method of contraception, and women who have used it report high levels of satisfaction.

Despite its enormous potential, anti-choice groups oppose the use of emergency contraception. In order to hinder women's access to this important method of contraception, they falsely claim that emergency contraception is an abortifacient, and they disseminate other misinformation about its safety and efficacy.

Fortunately, public awareness and availability of emergency contraception has increased, and hopefully more women will benefit from this important backup birth control method in the future.

Emergency Contraception Is Not Just a "Morning-After Pill"

Emergency contraception, also called postcoital contraception, can prevent pregnancy after unprotected intercourse. Emergency contraception is provided in two ways: using hormonal contraceptive pills or inserting a copper-releasing IUD (intrauterine device).

* Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECPs) contain hormones that reduce the risk of pregnancy when started within 120 hours (five days) of unprotected intercourse. The treatment is more effective the sooner it begins (Ellertson, et al., 2003; "FDA Approves…", 1999; Rodrigues, et al., 2001; Van Look & Stewart, 1998). (Because ECPs have a five-day window of effectiveness, the popular term "morning-after pill" is misleading.)

* An IUD can be inserted to prevent pregnancy up to five days after unprotected intercourse (Van Look & Stewart, 1998).

Widespread Use and Availability of Emergency Contraception Could Prevent More than Half of All Unintended Pregnancies and Abortions in the U.S.

Forty-two million, or seven in 10 women of reproductive age, are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant. Nearly half of America's 6.3 million annual pregnancies are accidental. Unintended pregnancies result in 1.4 million abortions annually, as well as 1.2 million births that women either did not want to have until later or did not want at all (AGI, 2000). Eighty percent of teen pregnancies are unintended, and each year, one in 10 young women aged 15-19 become pregnant; more than half become mothers (AGI, 1999).

Widespread use of emergency contraception could prevent an estimated 1.7 million unintended pregnancies and 800,000 abortions each year (Glasier & Baird, 1998; Van Look & Stewart, 1998).