Via BoingBoing, I found this post, which pissed me off to no end. It’s weird, though, considering how “red” my state is, I had no trouble getting PlanB, which I’m assuming is the same thing as EC.
Then from the comments in that post, I found this post about a safe herbal method to induce menstration after missing a period. Huh! So I got pissed off and learned something useful all at the same time!
I am concerned about Plan B. It IS a powerful drug, after all. I don’t think that it should not be accessible, but taking a doctor out of the loop, even for an 18 year old “adult”… it seems risky.
Of course, not every woman has a doctor…
Our health care system sucks.
I don’t know what you mean about “powerful.” basically, Plan B is a bigger dose of birth control - same drugs that women have been taking for many many years and has been proven safe. I’m pretty sure the only reason bc pills aren’t OTC is to make sure you go in for your pap once a year.
I think the “over 18 only” is smart because the Bush administration’s “abstinence only” education has been an overwhelming success, virtually wiping out the problem of teen pregnancy.
oh…wait…
There are known risks with birth control. It is not entirely out of the realm of possibility that a woman could throw a clot because of taking Plan B.
Quite frankly, OTC antihistamines scare me a little.
all OTC’s come with risks. and yeah, if you smoke, BC and planB might not be for you - it increases the risk of stroke. Just because a medicine is available without a prescription, doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with warnings, and doesn’t mean it should be popped like candy.
however, PlanB has been evaluated by the REAL scientists at the FDA (not the ones with a political agenda) and found to be safe, and has been on the “recommended for OTC” for along time now. so it’s as safe as any other OTC medicine.
Wow, pretty sad. Can’t say I’m surprised though. In my wonderful bible belt state it would be about the same story; except here the nurses wouldn’t be embarrased. More than likely they would deliver a sermon about respecting God’s finest creation blah blah….and then write down her number off the caller ID, give it to some “Right To (a miserable, poverty-stricken) Life” terrorist…er, I mean activist, and the poor woman would have to deal with weeks of hectoring late night phone calls. This crap actually happens; I know because my aging father drives 50mi. two days a week to scream “murderer!” at people outside one of the two clinics left in the entire state. He thinks Eric Rudolph is a hero (no, really! I’ve heard him say it more than once!).
Annnyway…sorry to get worked up, kind of a sore point. I think OTC approval of PlanB is a solid idea with minimal risks. I just can’t understand how such a an intelligent and even progressive move actually happened under the present administration.
I hope she found someone to tell her just to double-up on the strongest (green? read the insert) pills for three days, not sure how effective that would be three days post oopsy though.