Morning After Pill now available to as young as 15, soon, maybe no age restrictions

OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/30/morning-after-plan-b-fda/2125109/
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is moving the morning-after pill over the counter but only those 15 and older can buy it — an attempt to find middle ground just days before a court-imposed deadline to lift all age restrictions on the emergency contraceptive.

Today, Plan B One-Step is sold behind pharmacy counters, and buyers must prove they're 17 or older to buy it without a prescription. Tuesday's decision by the Food and Drug Administration lowers the age limit and will allow the pill to sit on drugstore shelves next to spermicides or other women's health products and condoms — but anyone who wants to buy it must prove their age at the cash register.

Some contraceptive advocates called the move promising.

"This decision is a step in the right direction for increased access to a product that is a safe and effective method of preventing unintended pregnancies," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. "It's also a decision that moves us closer to these critical availability decisions being based on science, not politics."

But earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman of New York blasted the Obama administration for imposing the age-17 limit, saying it had let election-year politics trump science and was making it hard for women of any age to obtain the emergency contraception in time. He ordered an end to the age restrictions by Monday.

The women's group that sued over the age limits said Tuesday's action is not enough, and it will continue the court fight.

Lowering the age limit "may reduce delays for some young women but it does nothing to address the significant barriers that far too many women of all ages will still find if they arrive at the drugstore without identification," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
10 years ago Report
3
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: The FDA said the Plan B One-Step will be packaged with a product code that prompts the cashier to verify a customer's age. Anyone who can't provide such proof as a driver's license, birth certificate or passport wouldn't be allowed to complete the purchase.

"These are daunting and sometimes insurmountable hoops women are forced to jump through in time-sensitive circumstances, and we will continue our battle in court to remove these arbitrary restrictions on emergency contraception for all women," Northup said.

Half the nation's pregnancies every year are unintended, and doctors' groups say more access to morning-after pills could cut those numbers. The pills contain higher doses of regular contraceptives, and if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can cut the chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent.

The FDA had been poised to lift all age limits and let Plan B sell over-the-counter in late 2011, when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in an unprecedented move, overruled her own scientists. Sebelius said some girls as young as 11 are physically capable of bearing children, but shouldn't be able to buy the pregnancy-preventing pill on their own.

President Barack Obama supported Sebelius' move and a spokesman said earlier this month that the president's position hadn't changed.

The FDA said Tuesday's decision was independent of the court case. Instead, after the Obama administration's 2011 action, Plan B maker Teva Women's Health had filed a new application with the age-15 compromise.
10 years ago Report
0
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: Age 15. I'm not really sure about that. But I know I don't like taking all age restrictions off of it. Since the age of consent in most states is 16, somehow the thought of anyone younger being able to buy it over the counter without parental permission kinda gives me the willies.
10 years ago Report
0
Geoff
Geoff: Personally, I figure the option to have it is better than a teenage pregnancy.

Parents need to take some responsibility to teach their children about being responsible, but such a dramatic change to a teenage girl's (and boy's) life shouldn't be the penalty for a stupid mistake.
10 years ago Report
2
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: I know what you mean, but the thought of a girl 11 or 12 or whatever just kinda ooks me out. They're kids. 15, is different, but little kids? *shudder*
10 years ago Report
0
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: I just wonder what kind of effect those drugs will have on their bodies. Apparently it is a massive dose of birth control pills. That can't be a good thing...
(Edited by OCD_OCD)
10 years ago Report
0
Geoff
Geoff: But they are having sex. Banning something doesn't stop people doing it.
10 years ago Report
0
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: If a kid is having sex at 11 or 12 or 13, there's something inherently wrong there, don't you think?
10 years ago Report
0
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: I mean, something wrong that a pill isn't going to fix.
10 years ago Report
0
Geoff
Geoff: I am not saying it is right. I am just saying it happens.

And the option of a morning after pill is preferable to the alternative.
10 years ago Report
1
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: The alternative would suck, that's for sure. I think it bothers me for the parents of someone that young to be taken out of the equation by the government. Personally, I would hope that if I had a girl who was younger than 15 that she would come to me and we could make the decision together. That's a heavy weight to put on a kid without a back-up system.

Then again, there are some parents around who would probably slap the crap out of them or who wouldn't give a crap anyway. I don't know what the answer is, but I think it is just sad all the way around.
10 years ago Report
0
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: By age 15, I would have already talked to a child and told them if they thought they would be having sex to come to me prior to and we'd do something about it. Pill, injections...whatever. I wouldn't leave it up to chance. For her sake.
10 years ago Report
0
Succinct Verbosity
Succinct Verbosity: This doesn't bother me the slightest. Sure, it's disheartening -and illegal- for children that young to have sex, but it happens. Perhaps this is more egregious in North America, where the legal age of consent is 18, but given that it is 16 here... I really can't say I give a damn. Also, given that the legal age of consent in Japan is 13, and their population and pregnancy rates are in deep decline (to the point of crises), they are clearly doing something right.

The United States really isn't one to talk given their teen pregnancy rates.
10 years ago Report
0
harlett anathema
harlett anathema: it took me a full 5 minutes or more....using that more button on our scrolling ever evolving home page.. too catch another glimpse of where this topic was posted..again.. that's a whole lot of minutes in a so many hours in a day...

and is only 1 of the convo's i wanted in on.......or else i risked being labeled a thread crapper...




my spin... on this.... is.. it is annoying the heck out of me... that it is always a Female's body chemistry and natural physical functions that are being toyed with for effective birth control..why on earth would chemists think inducing & teaching a woman's womb too miss-carry is grand birth control idea...????
10 years ago Report
1
Aura
Aura: Maybe I'm just strange, but I've never bothered to find out the age of the girls coming in to buy the morning after. They ask for it, they need it, I get it for them, end of story. Why get all bend out of shape about one or two years?
The thing is, unless hormones are raging, kids won't have sex. Or at least very very few of them. I didn't even start to menstruate before 13. So the creeps cause a 12 year old might buy it? maybe once every 10000 cases....
10 years ago Report
0
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: I think if I had a child under the age of 15 having sex, I would want to know. How can a parent be there for them if they don't know what's going on? How can they help?
10 years ago Report
0
Aura
Aura: I've been that teen, parents are the last to know, I am sort of accepting that. The helping part is to talk and explain and offer support regardless of the kid being active or not.Also it helps to have a doctor they are familiar and comfortable with and give em the privacy during visits.
10 years ago Report
0
OCD_OCD
OCD_OCD: In the US they can't go to the doctor unless the parent makes the appointment for them. My mom talked and explained and I had no problem going to her when I thought the time was right. I realize that not all girls do, which is kinda heartbreaking. It's a very emotional and stressful time to be alone. Peers don't take the place of a parent because, let's face it, your peers often make really bad decisions at that age.
10 years ago Report
1
harlett anathema
harlett anathema: Excuse me.... & ....how does how mindful of a parent You are...Too Your own daughter's ... have ta do with the only oops remedies or birth control methods are all designed against HER natural biology and physical bodies functions...It's our Daughters & Girl Friends or our selves who are suffering the life altering consequences when they get it wrong....
(Edited by harlett anathema)
10 years ago Report
0
Aura
Aura: Harlett feel free to raise your kids the way you want to. Me, I actually KNOW a bit about medicine and biology having studied it for 4 years, and I see absolutely no problem with raising the natural hormones of my daughter so eggs wont ripen and/or make the endometrial denser so a fertilized egg won't implant. This is something completely different from a miscarriage.
10 years ago Report
2
harlett anathema
harlett anathema: hmmmmm if we subtract 15 from 30 ..that means for 15 years a woman has toyed with her natural biology......then she having trouble conceiving when ready...and hey.. it's just not her ovaries she's toying with.. she's toying with her breasts.. and their natural functions as they prepare....Breast cancer on rise by chance..
(Edited by harlett anathema)
10 years ago Report
0
harlett anathema
harlett anathema: by the way.... i have experience from being a alive living breathing woman...who did not like the changes she experienced from taking the so called pill for 6 months out of her life..........i felt every change it was putting my natural body through.......

I don't have a daughter... but i damn sure,caution her too have sex every which other then...and fore go the PILL.........................
10 years ago Report
0
Aura
Aura: Actually, it's was the trend of bottle feeding that had a stronger link to breast cancer, denying biology has more consequences than slightly 'toying with it'.
10 years ago Report
1
harlett anathema
harlett anathema: <---- has stated her stance.. and will fore go having a pointless argument...
10 years ago Report
0
Aura
Aura: you're right. pointless to argue if you are taking the stance that failing to conceive at 30 has more to do with 'toying with biology' than wanting biology to wait until you are 'ready' and totally ignoring the fact that biological speaking you have waited far beyond the optimal age to get pregnant in the first place......
10 years ago Report
1
harlett anathema
harlett anathema: word games... toying with denying... are a personal choice of words...

as well over thinking denying biology is natural..

mind you toying with a woman's natural biology too any degree is detrimental.. as science is realizing ....then excusing itself for...........

10 years ago Report
0
Page: 123