FDA Allows Plan B Over the Counter

What a shame.

Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription - but only with proof they’re 18 or older, federal health officials ruled Thursday, capping a contentious three-year effort to ease access to the emergency contraceptive.

Girls 17 and younger still will need a doctor’s note to buy the pills, called Plan B, the Food and Drug Administration told manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BRL)

I oppose this drug altogether because it has the potential to kill an innocent human life.  Because of that, I oppose anything that makes it more readily available.

That being said, I am glad that they at least prevented minors from obtaining this drug over the counter.  It is a powerful drug and a child should not be able to obtain it without consulting her parents and a physician.  Of course, I don’t know how enforceable the age requirement will be, but at least they tries. 

1. I oppose this drug altogether because it has the potential to kill an innocent human life.

   The drug is not effective if the woman is already pregnant, which means it is designed to be taken before insemination takes place.  There is no embryo to kill.  Unless you meant the teenage girl; true, the drug has potential harm to younger girls, which is why the doctor’s supervision is required.  The risk is lessened considerably for older women.

   Posted by on August 24, 2006 at 2140 hrs




2. The drug also prevents a fertilized egg from being implanted on the uterine wall.  I consider the embryo a life from the moment the egg is fertilized and has unique DNA.

   Posted by Owen on August 24, 2006 at 2146 hrs




3. Umm, girls 13-17 do NOT need parent’s permission to obtain the pill, and their doctor cannot inform the parents.  Hooray for the government, once again they know what’s best for our children.

   Posted by on August 24, 2006 at 2238 hrs




4. And yet age requirements for tattooing were being so strictly enforced back before drivers licenses had photos on them that I witnessed an artist ask a prospective client to spell the middle name on the ID presented and kick him the heck out when he couldn’t.

   Posted by triticale on August 25, 2006 at 0020 hrs




5. And people under 18 can NEVER get cigarettes or anything either…

   All it takes is for that 16 year old girl to have a friend who is 18.

   Posted by Lord Ben on August 25, 2006 at 0813 hrs




6. I consider the embryo a life from the moment the egg is fertilized and has unique DNA.

   I agree.  However, the pill is taken before the egg is fertilized.  Take into account travel time…

   Posted by on August 25, 2006 at 0939 hrs




7. “I oppose this drug altogether because it has the potential to kill an innocent human life. ”

   and yet you seem to be a big fan of war in general.  hmmm

   Posted by on August 25, 2006 at 1017 hrs




8. War is a neccessary evil, this pill is not. Anyone that has experienced war will tell you it is not fun but someone has to do it. I can tell you a slaughterhouse is not pleasant either but you like your hams and steak. This pill and war are 2 differant issues and the arguement dilutes the debate.

   Females at this time cannot walk up to the counter and get a pack of birth control pills without a prescription and they are a drastically reduced level of hormone that is contained in plan B. That is like saying I can’t go get psuedoephedrine cold capsules without a prescription but I can buy crystal meth over the counter.

   Posted by fishaddict on August 25, 2006 at 1328 hrs




9. War is a neccessary evil, this pill is not.

   They both are.

   <i>Females at this time cannot walk up to the counter and get a pack of birth control pills without a prescription and they are a drastically reduced level of hormone that is contained in plan B. That is like saying I can’t go get psuedoephedrine cold capsules without a prescription but I can buy crystal meth over the counter.</i>

   That’s like saying you know more about the medical science involved in such comparisions than the FDA does.  I’m sure you’ve read some highly reliable report by Dr. James Dobson.  Heh. 

   Seriously, has it not occurred to you that taking a high dose of this on a one-time basis is far less dangerous than taking smaller doses over the course of a woman’s reproductive life?  You act like the studies and panels of experts have just never thought about these things!  Wake up!  Make some better arguments, rather than second-guessing the science based on nothing.

   And Owen, I don’t dispute that a fertilized embryo is “alive,” or even that it is in some genetic way “human”; I simply deny that a microscopic blob of eight undifferentiated cells merits the same moral and legal consideration that you and I do.  I dispute that idea vigorously.

   Posted by scott on August 27, 2006 at 1144 hrs




10. I simply deny that a microscopic blob of eight undifferentiated cells merits the same moral and legal consideration that you and I do.  I dispute that idea vigorously.

    Indeed.  You seem to only value human life at the point that it becomes “cuddly.”

    Posted by Owen on August 27, 2006 at 1147 hrs




11. You seem to only value human life at the point that it becomes “cuddly.”

    Or perhaps at the point when it becomes an “individual”

    Posted by on August 28, 2006 at 1941 hrs