Poisioning Pregnancy

By Beth Patch, 10.25.2006


Over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill (MAP) were approved this past August to women over age 17. Until that point, a woman needed a prescription. And before 1999, it wasn’t even sold in the U.S. MAPs, called emergency contraception, must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex to work.

Controversial since the early ‘90s, some doctors refused to write prescriptions for MAPs. Many pharmacists wouldn’t even fill prescriptions for Plan B and Preven, the two most widely used MAPs. Doctors and pharmacists cited moral, ethical and religious reasons for their stubbornness. As recently as 2005, Wal-Mart fired several pharmacists for defying the demand to fill MAP prescriptions.

And a number of medical professionals who don’t have a problem with routine contraceptive pills are struggling with MAPs because they don’t see these pills as simple birth control. Their moral dilemma resides in the drug’s power to wipe out a fertilized egg. What some argue is that this terminates a new and separate human being.

MAP proponents do not believe life begins when an egg is fertilized. Opponents do. So doctors and pharmacists who refuse to prescribe MAPs do so because they aren’t willing to take part in early abortions.

First introduced and approved for use as an emergency contraceptive, MAPs weren’t intended to be used in place of regular contraception since it’s not as effective. Women’s Capital Corporation (WCC, manufacturer of Plan B) presented it to the FDA as a contraceptive strictly for emergency use.
Then in 2002, Women’s Capital Corporation ran radio and print ads that used the terms “Jane’s Lucky Day,” “Oops” and “Uh-oh.” These ads painted a more accurate picture of their agenda to make MAPs available for convenience.

In our society steeped with casual sex, MAPs offered a quick-fix and the pharmaceutical company wanted to cash in on it. FDA records show that the ads violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act since they were false, lacking in fair balance or otherwise misleading. And WCC got a hand slapping. Soon afterwards, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. bought WCC and Plan B. Barr immediately pressed the FDA to consider over-the-counter sales.

Now, seven years from its initial FDA approval as a drug prescribed for emergency use, the morning-after pill can be bought over the counter. What a convenient means for women to make sure they’re not pregnant after unprotected sex.

It’s ironic that women have to get a prescription for routine birth control pills but they can buy MAPs without one.

Think about it. What is a sexually active young woman going to do? She must choose. One option is the established route of gynecologist, birth-control pills and pap smears. The other is the newer route of “Oops” I had unprotected sex so I better go to the drugstore and get a MAP.

If she buys the argument that there’s no new life beginning in her because 72 hours haven’t passed, she’s likely to buy a MAP and think nothing more of it.

What a travesty! The FDA should read the textbook, “Human Embryology” written by William Larsen. A separate human being, a life with 46 chromosomes of its own, has been formed when fertilization takes place. Although this new life needs nutrients from the mother’s womb to grow and fully develop, it has already developed its own cellular identity separate from its parents. It is a separate life.

Women who take MAPs for contraception are being deceived. Ordinary birth-control pills prevent ovulation and fertilization does not take place. No life is terminated from regular contraception.
The FDA shouldn’t be allowed to name Plan B or Preven as emergency contraception. They should call it what it is – the earliest abortion a woman can get.