A debate in the Federal Drug Administration over Plan B, commonly known as the morning-after pill, has led to disagreement spreading from Congress to campus.
Plan B is a method of emergency contraception that, taken within five days of unprotected sex, can prevent unwanted pregnancy. The emergency contraception is available by prescription from certain doctors, but the FDA is considering whether to make it available over the counter.
The FDA’s delay in making the decision has led two senators to block President George W. Bush’s nomination of Lester M. Crawford as FDA Commissioner.
Two senators, Hilary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., are leading the push to have the FDA make its decision soon. Murray has said that the FDA is making a “political and ideological decision” regarding Plan B, and there is no scientific reason to delay its approval.
Plan B has two effects, said Student Health Center Coordinator Amy Cavendar. The pill can suppress ovulation if an egg is about to be released from the ovary. If the egg has already been released, the pill can block a sperm from reaching the egg by thickening the cervical mucous.
“The faster it is used, the more effective it will be,” Cavendar said. Most health-care professionals recommend taking it within 72 hours of unprotected sex.
If a woman takes the pill within three days of intercourse, Plan B is reported to have an 89 percent effectiveness rate, Cavendar said. If used within the first 24 hours, it is reported to be up to 95 percent effective.
The FDA approved emergency contraception as a prescription-only drug in 1999. The FDA’s manufacturer, Barr Laboratories, applied for approval to sell Plan B over the counter in April 2003, and an agency advisory panel voted 23-4 to support approval.
The FDA’s scientific staff also strongly recommended approval. The only questions left are the ones concerning ultimate consequences.
Critics say Plan B’s availability will increase promiscuous sex, while advocates say it will decrease the number of abortions and abandoned, unwanted babies.
“Having it available over the counter would theoretically increase access, which many would regard as a good thing,” Cavendar said.
But, Cavendar added, if a woman or couple needs a prescription to obtain Plan B, that provides medical practitioners time to talk with them about what went wrong and how to avoid similar situations in the future.
Although Plan B is available by prescription, some doctors will not write prescriptions for it, and some pharmacies may not fill it because they are morally opposed to it, Cavendar said.
Cavendar recommended that sexually active women who are not on some other method of birth control find a doctor to write a prescription to keep on hand in case of an emergency.
“I think there is some concern that if it is made over the counter that lots of people will start using it as their primary method of birth control,” Cavendar said. “However, due to the side effects, I don’t think that’s as much of an issue as people might think.”
Side effects of Plan B include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, headache and menstrual changes, Cavendar said.
While political officials are divided on the issue, students at the University have equally diverse opinions.
Taneka Welch, a biological engineering senior and the vice president of Pioneers Advancing Reproductive Liberties and Education, an abortion- rights group, said she believes emergency contraception should be available over the counter.
“I think it’s a very good thing,” Welch said. “I think it would result in a lot less abortions and a lot less unplanned pregnancies.”
Welch said she does not think more people would have sex if they could obtain Plan B more easily.
“We already know people are having sex, and it’s not available right now,” Welch said. “I don’t think it matters.”
Welch said she does not think Plan B would become a primary method of birth control because it is a fairly inconvenient and uncomfortable way to prevent pregnancy.
“The side effects are awful,” Welch said. “It’s not a really great way to go.”
Ryan Cooney, a landscape architecture freshman and a member of Students for Life, an anti-abortion group, called Plan B a “very early-term abortion.”
Some people argue that there is no way a significant life form could develop in five days and therefore the pill is not an abortion, Cooney said.
But he said, “There is still the potential for a child to be born. For someone to take a pill to end a child’s life is just wrong.”
Cooney also said part of being against abortion is waiting until marriage to engage in sexual intercourse.
The pill’s increased availability could possibly lead to more promiscuous sex, Cooney said.
“This certainly does not favor abstinence,” he said.
Jessica Odell, a biological engineering senior and the president of PARLE, said she thinks emergency contraception should be offered over the counter for women in rural areas who do not have easy access to doctors.
“The sooner you take it, the less likely it is that you’ll be pregnant so it’s important to get it soon,” Odell said.
Odell said she thinks the FDA should have made Plan B over the counter before, but they are “buckling under political pressure.”
Odell said she does not believe it will encourage more people to have sex.
“That is a totally different choice,” Odell said. “There is a difference between choosing to have sex and choosing to be responsible.”
Mary Higdon, a psychology senior and president of Students for Life, said she does not believe in any kind of contraception.
“I think it will increase promiscuity,” Higdon said. “This is killing life inside of you. It’s wrong.”