Plan B To Be Available To 17 And Up Without Prescription
Posted by: Catherine Strawn
Filed in:
sex
12:00PM, Tuesday March 24th 2009
Yesterday, a federal judge ordered the FDA to make the Plan B morning-after birth control pill available without a prescription to women 17 and up. In a very crime show-sounding ruling, the court said, “The FDA repeatedly and unreasonably delayed issuing a decision on Plan B for suspect reasons.” How sordid! Apparently, the FDA only considered a petition about Plan B when Congress threatened to hold up FDA commissioners’ confirmation hearings. And, the FDA ignored it’s own advisory panel and scientists, who found that Plan B could be safely used by 17-year-olds. Keep reading for five things you should know about the morning-after pill, no matter what your age. [NY Times, Reuters]
1. You have to take Plan B within 72 hours of your sexual mishap for it to work, but its effective decreases as the hours wear on, so take it as soon as you can. Provided you take it correctly, Plan B reduces the chance of getting preggers by up to 89 percent.
2. But if you feel like you might vomit, wait until that passes to take the pill (provided it’s still within the 72 hours) so you don’t throw up the pill. If you vomit within an hour of taking Plan B, it’s less likely to work.
3. Plan B is not an abortion pill. If you’re already pregnant, you need to move on to Plan C.
4. The morning-after pill can prevent pregnancy in a variety of ways: By stopping the release of an egg from the ovary, by preventing the sperm and egg from uniting, by preventing an egg from attaching to the uterus.
5. You’ll know Plan B worked when you get your next period. [Go2PlanB.com]
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Leese
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 12:15 pm: [report]
Wasn’t it already available without a prescription? Or was it 18 and up?
hakatchkey
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 12:28 pm: [report]
I wish that #3 would be more vocalized, I know quite a few people think that Plan B is the abortion pill.
Catherine
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 12:45 pm: [report]
@Leese: Right now, it’s only available for 18 and up, but it should be changing soon!
Yellow
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 01:41 pm: [report]
I was just talking about this with a friend last night—how come you can get Plan B without a prescription, but you can’t get regular birth control pills? I understand that it’s to prevent health problems and to make sure you’re taking correctly, etc, but based on what pharmacists and sexual health clinic workers that I know are saying, there are SO many women who use Plan B regularly as a primary means of birth control with disregard to it’s purpose, instructions and warnings.
Alison Wonderland
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 01:41 pm: [report]
“And, the FDA ignored it’s own advisory panel and scientists, who found that Plan B could be safely used by 17-year-olds.”
Is this to suggest those younger than 17 shouldn’t use Plan B? You only have to be 18 to get it, but that doesn’t control who takes it. I’m concerned, and slightly confused now.
CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 02:00 pm: [report]
This is a good thing.
Rose
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 02:42 pm: [report]
Every sexually active woman should have Plan B in her medicine cabinet. If you never need it (by some miracle), you may be glad you could pass it to a friend.
Alexa
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 04:48 pm: [report]
Yellow, if woman uses Plan B as a regular form of BC, it will mess her cycle and hormonal balance up so bad as to make her a basketcase. That is a myth that some women use it “regularly.” Some may use it “often.”
Plan B is not intended for regular use, whereas BC is. IN some countries, regular BC is available OTC without a prescription (I think that’s the case in Mexico, in fact).
Chelle
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 05:40 pm: [report]
Since when was it available OTC for even 18 and up? In 2005, I had to call my OBGYN on Thanksgiving morning! I agree with Alexa. Taking it as a regular form of BC is a terrible idea. When I took it, my hormones went way out of whack. I ended up gaining 10 pounds. If this is OTC then regular BC should be too.
Alexa
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 06:00 pm: [report]
Chelle, it became OTC for those 18 and older last year (or maybe in late 2007). Recently, at any rate. There are also 9 states where it is available OTC for those under 18 as well (made that way through legislative or regulatory action at the state level).
Yellow
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 06:04 pm: [report]
Yes, I know that Plan B is not intended for regular use, but when it’s available without a prescription, abuse of it can, and does, happen.
I am a huge supporter of emergency contraception, but I also think it needs to be paired with a society that has a comprehensive sexual education, so it can be available over the counter to all women, without the worry of it being abused.
Dallas
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 07:49 pm: [report]
Perhaps the amount of progesterone in Plan B is different in the states than in Canada..but here, Plan B can be taken anytime within *5* days of unprotected intercourse or a failed method.
As for #2..if you vomit within one hour of taking the pill, you NEED to take another one.
And based on what I’ve read..there’s many ways Plan B *may* work, but they’re not entirely sure how it does..they just know it works.
As for the comment about people taking BC without a prescription..nooo..while it is the most frequently taken medication..it is still a medication. There’s numerous points of counselling, and there are also contraindications to taking the pill..time with a health professional must be spent before anyone takes it!
retro chic
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 08:43 pm: [report]
@ hakatchkey: So true. The Abortion Pill, “RU-486” (Mifepristone) is a whole other beast. The literature’s distinction between Plan B and RU-486 should be greater.
Overall, I think the more you limit your hormone consumption, the better, in the long run.
saysay
wrote on March 24 2009 @ 09:31 pm: [report]
@yellow: My sentiments exactly…. my younger sister has taken plan b many, many times. Although it says it plainly on the box and I, her much wiser older sister, have advised against it, she has this mentality that if its so easy to get then she’s just gonna keep doing it. These kind of situations make me question whether or not the age really does need to get lower. After spending time with my sister and her friends, its become pretty clear to me that they’ve become much less concerned about safe sex because now they have this net. It’s a little scary.
Yellow
wrote on March 25 2009 @ 04:43 am: [report]
Thank you saysay! Those are exactly my thoughts. Part of me feels like Plan B should be available to all women without a prescription—after all, I am a responsible, educated woman in her mid twenties, and if a condom breaks, making contact with my doctor and getting a prescription feels like a hassle. The other part of me considers younger women, like saysay’s sister, who might not understand that Plan B, like is says on the box, is an EMERGENCY contraceptive. If an “emergency” requires you to take Plan B many times, something isn’t right, and the woman can be endangering her health. I feel like the only way to squash that problem is to make sure younger women have the extra step of speaking with a parent or medical professional first, though that may also scare off younger women who have actual contraceptive emergencies, and there are always plenty of responsible younger women who don’t abuse Plan B. What to do, what to do…
lindssaurus
wrote on March 25 2009 @ 07:33 pm: [report]
this is good. i remember when i had a scare….was 17. had to make a secret trip to planned parenthood. but at the same time i hope people wont use this as a replacement for birth control or condoms. this pill is suppose to do some serious cleaning, totally not meant to be used every time someone does it