Possible "Morning After" Pill Ban

Status
Not open for further replies.

Mary

Puritan Board Freshman
This is WORD FOR WORD an email I received from my mom - I think I have mentioned she & I don't see eye to eye on anything...I have found several things in this letter which are misleading or just plain lies - any opinions????

Dear Feminists,

In a last-ditch effort, we tried to stop the FDA from rejecting over-the-counter status for emergency contraception.

Outrageously, after more than one million of us Marched for Women's Lives in Washington, DC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) late Thursday decided to reject over-the-counter status for emergency contraception. We must now make our voices heard once again expressing our anger that the FDA has allowed right-wing politics to trump women's health.

The FDA sent a letter late Thursday night to Barr Laboratories, the distributors of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, rejecting its application for over-the-counter status for the drug. This decision is despite the fact that the FDa's own expert advisory panels voted 23-4 in favor of making Plan B available over the counter. The FDA, however, left the door open and said Barr Laboratories could apply again if they provide evidence that Plan B is safe for young women under 16 or if they provide a two-tier marketing plan that would only allow over-the-counter status for women 16 years of age or older.

Right-wing groups and anti-reproductive rights members of Congress have been pressuring the FDA to reject approval of over-the-counter status. Medical research has overwhelmingly demonstrated the safety, efficacy, and need for emergency contraception over the counter.

We cannot allow anti-reproductive rights extremists to get away with taking this women's health and public health breakthrough product away from women seeking to avoid unintended pregnancy. It is imperative that we send thousands of messages to the FDA expressing our outrage that it has succumbed to political pressure and rejected approval for Plan B over the counter.

We urge you to send this critical alert to all of your friends and family. Together, we can make a difference.

For Women's Lives,
Ellie Smeal, President
Beth Jordan, M.D., Medical Director
 
:banghead::no:

I can see bad things happening if this goes over the counter. It will be used for more than just "the morning after." When these girls come to the ER they have to have a preg test done before they can take this pill. I think it's the same whhen they visit their doctor. If it's positive, then they don't get the pill because they were already pregnant long before the "morning after" and they need to see their doctor about "fixing that." But if it goes over the counter, there will be no such precautions made. Many girls could have some serious complications because of this, and our infant body count will only skyrocket more....

[Edited on 5-7-2004 by puritansailor]
 
Puritan sailor wrote,

[quote:af8ba6e9cc]
Many girls could have some serious complications because of this[/quote:af8ba6e9cc]
Unless I really wasn't paying attention in Health class, if you miscarry and don't get a D&C, you can die. This would be the same type of thing, right? Funny, I thought women dying (during back alley abortions) was the reason abortion was legalized in the first place...

Thanks for your response. Here are some of the things that got me about this letter...

[quote:af8ba6e9cc]
emergency contraception.
[/quote:af8ba6e9cc]
I'm sorry; WHAT'S the emergency? "I had unprotected..." That's not an "emergency"; that's stupidity.

[quote:af8ba6e9cc]
more than one million of us Marched for Women's Lives in Washington, DC
[/quote:af8ba6e9cc]
1. Do we have the actual numbers? I highly doubt it was over a million. Besides, aren't they the same "million" people who marched against the war a few months ago? Does it count if the same people show up for every march? Maybe they're just bored and have nothing better to do...
2. "Women's Lives" - so now my life is in danger if I can't boink as many people as I want and then go take a pill to make the "complications" go away? Oooh, scary!

[quote:af8ba6e9cc]
safe for young women under 16
[/quote:af8ba6e9cc]
Did I miss all the "age of consent" laws being repealed? What happened to PROTECTING our children? Having been one myself, I can attest that girls under the age of 16 are not fully mature. (And that's putting it mildly.) It seems to me at 15 I was still doing the "name game" with the boy I had a crush on. You know, cross off all the letters which are in both your names, count the remaining letters, and figure out what your odds are of having a relationship. It seems to me that he & I were Made for Each Other, and destined to be together forever. Which is unfortunate, since he's married (not to me) and has 2 kids now... Good thing I didn't sleep with him based on that "test" huh?

[quote:af8ba6e9cc]
We cannot allow anti-reproductive rights extremists to get away with taking this women's health and public health breakthrough product away from women seeking to avoid unintended pregnancy.
[/quote:af8ba6e9cc]
Oh, now we're "extremists." And BTW, wasn't Thalidomide a "breakthrough" product in its day? The FDA is saying, "We don't know what the long term effects of this pill are, and we're not going to risk ruining the lives of young girls who may someday WANT to have a baby." And I love how these people assume ALL women in this statement. Yup. That's right. They talked to all 150 million of us, and we are all in agreement. Never mind that most women in this country are post-menopausal or married (or both). What about AIDS as a woman's health issue? What about not having unprotected s*x? (I'm not even approaching this from a Christian standpoint, since we KNOW they aren't.) Now guys would have even less reason to wear protection...Am I crazy, or are the long-term damages frightening?

I am reminded of (Garrison Keillor's?) story of the Catholic priest in his hometown. Once a year he would give his "s*x talk". It was one line: "If you didn't want to go to Minneapolis, why did you get on the bus?"

After watching my sister struggle for years to have a baby with her husband, and knowing how much I would love to have children, it is just a heartbreaking thing to witness.

Mary
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top