Birth Control Is Back Posted on Jul 17, 2007
By Marie Cocco
Birth control is back. Not that it ever went away, despite the ardor with which conservative culture warriors have pushed their antediluvian attitudes about women and sex—and notwithstanding the official sanction the Bush administration has given this retro-think.
Barr Pharmaceuticals, maker of the Plan B morning-after contraceptive pill, estimates that sales doubled since the Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sale of the product after a long, politically inspired delay. Opponents had argued that the pill is tantamount to abortion—which it is not. A woman takes the medication after unprotected sex, and it works like a high dose of birth control pills. Plan B brought in $40 million annually when it was available by prescription only, according to Barr spokeswoman Carol Cox. The company estimates that sales this year, which marked the start of marketing without a prescription to women 18 and older, will reach $80 million.
More teenagers who have sex, meanwhile, are using condoms—63 percent used a condom during their last sexual intercourse, according to data compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics. That’s up from 46 percent of sexually active high school students who reported using condoms in 1991. Progress in reducing the rate of births to teenage mothers has held steady since the 1990s. So fewer girls are becoming mothers before they are emotionally and financially ready—and fewer babies are born burdened by the toxic mix of poverty and social stress related to teenage parenting.
It turns out that protecting ourselves against unwanted pregnancies never went out of style. ..........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070717_birth_control_is_back/
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