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More U.S. women using the "morning-after" pill: report

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

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More U.S. women using the "morning-after" pill: report - Yahoo! News


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More U.S. women are taking the "morning-after" pill, but generally just once, according to the government's first report on how the emergency contraception drug has been used since regulators eased access to it in 2006.

About 11 percent of sexually active women, or 5.8 million, used the pill between 2006 and 2010, compared to about 4 percent in 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its report released on Thursday.
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This is the part that needs to be "fixed":

Emergency contraception has been available by prescription in the United States since 1999.
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By prescription is ludicrous. Over the counter should be the norm.
 
I don't really understand the prescription part either. What is a woman supposed to make a trip to the doctor the morning after to get a prescription for the morning after pill?
 
Dragonfly said:
By prescription is ludicrous. Over the counter should be the norm.
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It has been since 2006

from the article you posted

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved sales of Plan B to adult women without a prescription in 2006 after years of contentious debate. It later loosened the restriction to include 17-year-olds.
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Texas1836 said:
It has been since 2006

from the article you posted
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One version of the morning-after pill, known as Plan B, has stirred the most political controversy.
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The "controversy" part is some of what I'm referring to, and,
"one version" to me sounds like there are other versions that are only available through prescription.

If that's wrong, and they're all now available over the counter, that's a good thing.
 
Dragonfly said:
By prescription is ludicrous. Over the counter should be the norm.
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Not saying I disagree but out of curiosity, do you think it shouldn't be on prescription because you don't think it carries a high enough clinical risk or for social reasons around the stigma and practicality of quick access?
 
Two extremely important factors involved here.

#1 - time
#2 - affordability

Requiring a prescription will greatly effect both of those factors.

Yes?
 
Those pills can make you sicker than hell, and if you take it after conception has occurred it can cause serious issues for the woman's health. I'm not sure there are a lot of women reading the insert when it's effectively OTC.
 
tessaesque said:
Those pills can make you sicker than hell, and if you take it after conception has occurred it can cause serious issues for the woman's health. I'm not sure there are a lot of women reading the insert when it's effectively OTC.
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You're not suggesting they should all be prescription only are you?
 
Dragonfly said:
You're not suggesting they should all be prescription only are you?
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I'm suggesting that at minimum they should be located behind the counter and should require that the pharmacist enunciate the warnings associated with using the pill.

I've taken it. I know how severe the side effects can be. I also know that a woman who tries to use it a month in to pregnancy (as an idiot friend did) can end up with serious complications from doing so. It isn't just like popping a BC pill and going about your day. It isn't like taking an aspirin. It comes with a written warning, but I don't personally think that's enough. Tampons come with written warnings regarding TSS and many women are still completely clueless to the risks.
 
People know that drinking and driving is potentially deadly...yet how many are killed every year doing just that?

I hear what you're saying, and I'm not suggesting the pills be sold through gas station bathroom dispensers like condoms and tampons.

However, I don't think every woman who needs one should have to schedule an appointment with a doctor, then get a prescription, then go find a pharmacy that'll sell them what they need.
 
Dragonfly said:
People know that drinking and driving is potentially deadly...yet how many are killed every year doing just that?

I hear what you're saying, and I'm not suggesting the pills be sold through gas station bathroom dispensers like condoms and tampons.

However, I don't think every woman who needs one should have to schedule an appointment with a doctor, then get a prescription, then go find a pharmacy that'll sell them what they need.
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Neither do I, although that's what I had to do and I managed to get the pill w/i 24 hours of the sexual event.
 
Yes - what Tess said. They can have adverse affects.

And it's such a hefty, serious dose with serious side effects - if regular old birth control is by prescription then so should the morning after. If all forms of BC were available OTC we'd need LESS of the morning after.

To be honest - I wouldn't trust certain elements of the general populous with access to it. OTC means into the hands of any young teen who shouldn't have it without Dr's exam, first - and adult male who wants to slip roofies into a girl's drink at a bar . . . Yeah - prescription only for everyone's safety and sanity: health and otherwise.

A responsible female gets the morning after pill and puts it away for use whenever she needs it - why anyone would sequester their self to all the many flaws of 'trying to hurry up and get a prescription filled' is beyond me . . . everything from pharmacies simply not wanting to carry it to medical insurance complications. If it's THAT serious then DON'T leave it for the last minute.

I took it twice after having my tubal done - because my husband came home immediately after from deployment cutting my recovery time short and I don't trust condoms seeing as how I had one of my children due to how 'well they work' and spermacides are nothing but misery in a can - or suppository - when you're allergic.

Don't like it? Tough nookie - I took it to be on the safe side.
 
The economy probably has a lot to do with it. A nurse I know who works labor & delivery told me their patient load was waaaaay down and she has been doing it long enough to know that when the economy sucks, fewer people have babies.
 
Fisher said:
The economy probably has a lot to do with it. A nurse I know who works labor & delivery told me their patient load was waaaaay down and she has been doing it long enough to know that when the economy sucks, fewer people have babies.
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Of course - common sense. Visectomies are up as well.

Do people who argue against it honestly want the opposite to be true? Families to have more children in the time when they can care for them the least?

To me - NOT having children when you're not able or ready is the utmost of maturity and responsibility - unlike the jokers who want to pretend they "only have sex when they want to risk having a child" (mmhmm - because you know it's not true)
 
Aunt Spiker said:
Of course - common sense. Visectomies are up as well.

Do people who argue against it honestly want the opposite to be true? Families to have more children in the time when they can care for them the least?

To me - NOT having children when you're not able or ready is the utmost of maturity and responsibility - unlike the jokers who want to pretend they "only have sex when they want to risk having a child" (mmhmm - because you know it's not true)
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It how they go about not having babies that is the rub.....always has been, always will be.
 
Fisher said:
It how they go about not having babies that is the rub.....always has been, always will be.
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LOL - no - no rubbing allowed . . . no contact of any sort that might lead to sex until you're willing and able to have a kiddo and take care of it.

Hell - if some people had their way birth control would be banned again entirely.
 
tessaesque said:
I'm suggesting that at minimum they should be located behind the counter and should require that the pharmacist enunciate the warnings associated with using the pill.
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That's the way it is in Canada.

The way it should be.

With more than one girlfriend I've seen it's effects..... :yikes:
 
Aunt Spiker said:
LOL - no - no rubbing allowed . . . no contact of any sort that might lead to sex until you're willing and able to have a kiddo and take care of it.

Hell - if some people had their way birth control would be banned again entirely.
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Not opposed to BC other than abortion.
 
Jetboogieman said:
That's the way it is in Canada.

The way it should be.

With more than one girlfriend I've seen it's effects..... :yikes:
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And you know, to be fair, not every woman has side effects. Some women take it and experience nothing...kind of like gulping down a multi-vitamin. But there is definitely more risk to it than normal BC (prescription required) or aspirin (OTC).

A woman has 72 hours to get the pill. That's three days from the sexual incident. Requiring the woman to acknowledge the risks before ingesting the medication would take 5 minutes...and it would cover the asses of the manufacturer and pharmacy if the woman's side effects are severe.
 
Dragonfly said:
More U.S. women using the "morning-after" pill: report - Yahoo! News

This is the part that needs to be "fixed":

By prescription is ludicrous. Over the counter should be the norm.
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In all U.S. states, females 17 and older and males 18 and older can obtain emergency contraception without prescription from a doctor or pharmacist, while those under 17 need a script.
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^^Referring to morning-after pills. One of the two sources is wrong. Personally, I think it's yours, since I found my references to the MAP being available w/o prescription.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162...hould-be-prescribed-in-advance-to-teen-girls/
 
I am curious though - did they expect numbers to decline?

That's sort of redundant. . . and moot. Like pointing out "more US women use condoms than in 1950" . . . well no ****. The longer a form of BC is around the more often it will be used.

It's not like the numbers could have possibly DECLINED once it became readily available, you know :roll:
 
Dragonfly said:
Two extremely important factors involved here.

#1 - time
#2 - affordability

Requiring a prescription will greatly effect both of those factors.

Yes?
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Certainly, and the morning after pill is somewhat unique by it's very nature. None of that is good reason to dismiss the factor of safety. I honestly don't know the medical details but I think the emotive politics surrounding the issue brings as much risk of a push towards dangerous flexibility as there clearly is of excessive restrictions. If you're going to promote a relaxation of the provision of morning after pills, I think you should include the safety factor too.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
A responsible female gets the morning after pill and puts it away for use whenever she needs it - why anyone would sequester their self to all the many flaws of 'trying to hurry up and get a prescription filled' is beyond me . . . everything from pharmacies simply not wanting to carry it to medical insurance complications. If it's THAT serious then DON'T leave it for the last minute..
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Makes 100% perfect sense and I'd like to think the vast majority of adults are thinking this way.


However, we also know that those who struggle to afford just about everything, and with less formal education than most are not going to be thinking far ahead for things like that.

So the timing thing.....a lady has sex Friday evening and the condom breaks. She can't get appointment at doctor until Monday morning and at best they might be able to squeeze her into schedule late Monday afternoon. That's pushing the 72 hour limit, and that's before she has to get to pharmacy.....

Would an emergency room visit cover a broken condom morning-after pill visit in that situation?
 
HonestJoe said:
Certainly, and the morning after pill is somewhat unique by it's very nature. None of that is good reason to dismiss the factor of safety. I honestly don't know the medical details but I think the emotive politics surrounding the issue brings as much risk of a push towards dangerous flexibility as there clearly is of excessive restrictions. If you're going to promote a relaxation of the provision of morning after pills, I think you should include the safety factor too.
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I may be wrong, but I'm thinking the vast majority of resistance to the morning-after pill is from a "moral" and/or "religious" point of view regarding promiscuity and such things....
 
Dragonfly said:
Makes 100% perfect sense and I'd like to think the vast majority of adults are thinking this way.


However, we also know that those who struggle to afford just about everything, and with less formal education than most are not going to be thinking far ahead for things like that.

So the timing thing.....a lady has sex Friday evening and the condom breaks. She can't get appointment at doctor until Monday morning and at best they might be able to squeeze her into schedule late Monday afternoon. That's pushing the 72 hour limit, and that's before she has to get to pharmacy.....

Would an emergency room visit cover a broken condom morning-after pill visit in that situation?
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No - poor is not an excuse. Never an excuse . . . I don't give anyone that luxury. All available forms of birth control are covered by welfare, available through planned parenthood and so forth.

Our country does a valiant job to take care of the poor - only laziness keeps such things from getting to the ones who need it the most.

Again - health issues are a serious concern. If we're going to push that anything be OTC it should be regular, routine pills and the like.
 
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