FDA Weighs Morning - After Pill for Teens ( oh let me guess ....

[Florida_Geek]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Morning-After-Teens.html

October 18, 2004
FDA Weighs Morning - After Pill for Teens
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:11 a.m. ET

CHICAGO (AP) -- Some see easy access to emergency contraception as a way to drastically reduce teen pregnancy, already on the decline since the early 1990s. Others worry that its long-term effects on young women are unknown or argue that the drug, also known as the ``morning after pill,'' encourages teens to have sex. Ultimately, it will be up to Food and Drug Administration officials to decide: Should older teens be able to buy emergency contraception over the counter?

Earlier this year, the FDA denied one drug company's request to sell its brand of emergency contraception to anyone. Now that company, Barr Pharmaceuticals, has submitted a second proposal -- to sell its Plan B brand to people 16 and older, but to require anyone younger than that to consult a physician. The company expects a decision next year.

Over-the-counter sales have received support from both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and American Medical Association.


..more at AP

[kayell]

1. I'm willing to bet with you that the FDA will rule for encouraging teen

pregnancy, leading to more abortions. Pass it on - the * administration policies will lead to more teen pregnancies, unwed teen mothers, welfare and abortion.

Sigh...Probably too nuanced for pubs to understand. :shrug:

[Sabriel]

2. Next up, pharmacist refuses to fill teen's prescription! Film at 11

I hope doctors will have supplies handy in their offices, to by-pass fundie pharms.
Sabriel

[ChrisK]

3. The folks opposing this can't have it both ways

They want less abortions, as do we all I'm sure, but are not willing to give the correct access to almost ANY form of contraception that is available out there even when a group of doctors say its ok....they act like its some insider scam and all the doctors are in on it.

I have zero problem with the FDA saying that there have not been enough studies to confirm the safety of this pill but when the vote by the doctor's is 24-4 in favor of it being sold over the counter I would think they know what there talking about.

The only smart way to get young men and women to take sex seriously is not to scare the hell out of them with fire and brimstone but to teach them how there bodies work and what risk they face out there by not protecting themselves and being prepared incase of an accident....do the folks on the right really think that if they play dumb to this problem it will just go away?...its been done that way in the past and like always, its just gets worse.

[DBoon]

4. No, they are actually very clever

The anti-abortion movement isn't about "saving babies", it's about keeping women subservient and teenagers obedient and afraid. The authority of the father in the family replicates the authority of the state in larger society.

Abortion is just the intro. They start with an issue that has some traction (late term abortions) then gradually up the ante. Next is any abortion, then any sort of effective birth control.

It's a philosophical rebellion against the whole trend of Enlightenmant-based rationalism. They do not want you to be in control of your own destiny, using the products of science to control your own life. They want you to be subservient to incomprehensible mystical powers.

[ChrisK]

9. Good points DBoon, but I do think that there are some out there that

really think there saving babies when they help to try and stop abortions...the sad part is that the ones in charge of these groups are, for the most parts, men and if you ask me (as a man), I have a problem with that because no matter how long I or other men live there is zero chance that we will get pregnant, so for a man to try and impose his will on women is in no uncertain terms wrong.

When you speak of late term abortions you hit the nail on the head so to speak, its the exact same thing my wife says...all they need is to get there foot in the door and after that..well..I think we all see where this is going.

I find that funny when you talk of "incomprehensible mystical powers" because these folks are the ones that tell you that a god gave you free will but in the same breath they will say you need to "follow" them and if you don't you're going to hell...Well so much for free will I guess ;). ( I know I'm over-simplifying it and in the religious books it does speak of true free will but these folks have taken a simple meaning and twisted it to mean something totally different)

I don't really see it as living when your life is spent fearing that not matter what you do your doing your going to piss off a god that you have never seen and have never had any real contact with you other then through a book that was written years and years in the past at a time when we thought the earth was flat.

I think that religion is only good when you find what you want by exploring for yourself and not being told what is good for you or following it out of fear....thats not religion, its slavery in my opinion.

[noonwitch]

5. I am pro-choice, but I don't think Plan B should be sold over the counter

I think it's something that a doctor should prescribe. It is a harsh chemical with lots of negative side effects. There should be a doctor in the picture somewhere. Or an herbalist-pennyroyal can be used in a similar manner to Plan B.

It's not that I don't think women can make their own decisions, I just think that in the case of this drug, a doctor should prescribe it. A doctor should examine the woman first and ensure that she is not a high risk for complications prior to administering it.

[kayell]

6. Pennyroyal! Are you insane???!!!!

Pennyroyal is the kind of thing that people used to resort to before legalized abortions. And as any reputable herbalist will tell you - pennyroyal can KILL, especially if used in the essential oil form, as many seeking herbal abortions have done. Herbs are NOT neccesarily safer than drugs.

http://www.herbalgram.org/youngliving/herbclip/review.asp?i=41785
from the American Botanical Society on pennyroyal toxicity.

[calimary]

8. Unfortunately the rest of that problem is that some people don't

know a lot about herbs and might hear something about it from their friends and try it and - well, you know the rest.

There are doctors on my husband's side of the family. I've heard from them the common complaint about people who try to treat themselves - that if one pill is good, two or more will be even better. People overmedicate themselves all the time, using that thinking.

Your point is a good one, kayell. Sad to say, more women are apt to fall victim to something like this as the anti-choicers tighten the noose around a woman's right to have the last word about her own individual body and private nether regions.

Herbs are an interesting alternative but you REALLY have to know what you're doing. And some panicky teenager "in trouble" isn't gonna take the time.

[Mandate My Ass]

7. It's the same as the birth control pill

only a stronger dose.

I've taken this and I can't take the pill.

I agree with the above poster that herbs can be more dangerous than pills if you don't know what you're doing, like a teenager.