6 • t
LAC KAMA t Priait
February 16, 2005
Commentai
Face Off:
Student Poll
Should the mornins after pill be sold
without a prescription?
Risky pill calls for consideration, Easy access needed to control
population, decrease abortion rate
advice from physician
■ •
■
■
Do you thinks
morningaftey
should be avdk
over the counts
-5.
Jacob Ray
, Cassandra Mathiasen
The Clackamas Print
, The Clackamas Print
There are many responsible choices for women to make when it
, comes to choosing their preferred type of birth control.
“Emergency contraception” will all too easily become “everyday
contraception” if it becomes an over-the-counter drug. The so-called,
“morning after” pill was originally meant as a type of last resort in
case the chosen method of birth control happened to fail, not as an
alternative form thereof, which is exactly what it would become if
it were to be sold over the counter and readily available without a
prescription.
The “Plan B” pill has very specific time constraints and directions
for use that make it all the more important that it be prescribed by a
physician along with counseling on exactly how it should be taken. In
a modem world where we overdose on cough medicine, it’s' far too
risky to think that directions for use on the label of the package can
suffice for professional instruction.
Not only are there specific directions that need to be strictly
adhered to when taking the morning after pill, but women also need to
know the effects it will have on their bodies.
According to www.4women. gov, emergency contraception func
tions by stopping ovulation, fertilization and implantation of the eggs
released by the ovaries.
It has a wide spectrum of side effects, including extreme nausea,
vomiting, and fever somewhat comparable to what oné would expe
rience with a bad
case of the stomach
flu.
It is a useful
and needed drug,
yes, but one that
requires the direc
tion of a health pro
fessional.
Were emergen
cy contraception
readily available
without a prescrip
tion, it isn’t hard
to foresee a large
increase in sexual
ly transmitted dis
eases. When it’s so
incredibly conve
nient to make a trip
to the supermarket
directly after, there
will undoubtedly
be many couples
who find it easier
to use condoms and
other proper birth
control methods
less, if at all.
In short, emer
gency contracep
Internet Photo
tion needs to be avail
able to everyone, with a prescription and proper counseling by a health
care professional. This drug is a powerful one, and although it is a
good safety net for safe-sex mishaps, it needs to remain just that. After
all, it is the “morning after” pill, not the “every morning after” pill.
Right now there is a heated debate whether to make the
morning-after birth control pill, an emergency contraceptive
known as “Plan B,” an over-the-counter drug without a pre
scription for women age 16 and older.
I don’t see why this is even a debate, it just makes sense that
this should be over-the-counter. Let’s say a teenage girl has sex
with her boyfriend and the condom breaks, but it’s the week
end so she can’t get a prescription. Now there’s a good chance
she’ll get pregnant. If “Plan B” were to be over-the-counter,
she could’ve just went to the drug stpre and everything would
have been fine. Now, there’s just another teenage parent.
According to CNN.com, from Feb. 1, 2003, to Feb. 1, 2004,
there were 2.1 million unintended births in the U.S.; also, the
U.S. population is currently growing at one percent per year. I
think its time we did something for population control, and this
might be one of the good things.
“Plan B” can prevent pregnancy for up to 68 percent within
72 hours after sex. The sooner the pill is taken, the more effec
tive it is.
z Opponents argue that this drug would encourage women,
teenagers in particular, to have risky sex. This may be true, but
it’s a fact that teenagers are having sex. We need to accept it,
and on top of educating them, we need to make the resources
accessible.
For those that
oppose the morn
ing after pill,
because
they
believe that it is
a method of abor
tion, they should
check their facts.
It’s well known
that the morning
after pill does
not affect those
women that are
already
preg
nant. It prevents
fertilization but
it does not ter
minate the fetus
after conception.
The
ques
tion of when life
begins, whether
j
at conception or
I
otherwise, is a
|
matter of opin-
I
ion, and to force
one’s opinion on
a general popu
lation is wrong
(that’s
right,
Internet Photo
Geòrgie).
By tak
ing away this method of birth control, are we not encouraging
women to have abortions? No matter what, if a pregnancy is
not intended and if a woman does'not want to be pregnant, she
will find a way to not be in that position.
“Yes. I think for emergencji
sons it would be a good ide
Cristin Dean
“N<x Anything that could (
an unborn child, I am again
Donna Southwick
t«
K
Want your opinion known?
Write letters to the editor:
E-mail oped@clackamas.edu or drop by Roger Rook 135 to give us a hand written letter; letters
received will be printed in the next issue after being edited for grammar and clarity.
Drew Russell
“No. Because the weight«
abortion should be more th«
out.”
Emily Jones
be if there is no danger in it.'
Michael Curry I
This week's poll compiled
by Amy Sandell and Brie
Daykin.
tte,
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