‘Morning-after pill’ advocates take their case to Obama’s science adviser

[alp227]

Advocates for unfettered access to the “morning-after pill” Plan B One-Step took their case to President Obama’s chief science adviser Friday, asking him to find out the basis for the administration’s controversial decision last month to continue requiring that young girls get the drug only by prescription.

In brief presentations wedged into a meeting of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, five experts decried Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s rejection of the Food and Drug Administration’s move to make Plan B available completely over the counter.

“We are asking you to work with us .?.?. to readdress this decision, find out how it was made and why,” Wayne C. Shields told John P. Holdren, the chairman of the council. Shields is president of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, a trade organization with offices in Washington.

In her allotted two minutes of public comment, Francesca T. Grifo of the Union of Concerned Scientists quoted the HHS secretary’s Dec. 7 letter that rejected FDA’s plan to make Plan B available to girls younger than 17 without a prescription.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/morning-after-pill-advocates-take-their-case-to-obamas-science-adviser/2012/01/06/gIQAigY8gP_story.html

[uppityperson]

1. Good. k&r

[CTyankee]

2. HOlding feet to fire. This is good. I'm so glad.

We in the progressive community will get NOWHERE hiding from what we (may mistakenly) believe is politically OK. We must be BOLD. Put our demands on the record. Step up. Speak out.

We would do well to take a lesson from the gay rights movement! Why the hell don't we?

[GusFring]

3. I'm as liberal as they come. Believe that or not. But I agree w/ Obama's decision.

Why do people want underage girls being able to access this w/o their parents knowing? ANd that's exactly what would happen.

[alp227]

4. First of all, some girls may suffer extreme retaliation from parents.

Second, do you really think most conscious, thinking girls under the age of consent really are thinking of having sex? And look at the consequences of abstinence only education. Obviously teen pregnancy hasn't been stemmed.

[KittyWampus]

15. There are other ways to get prescriptions than going to parents. A young girl MUST be supervised

by someone. If not a parent then a medical professional.

Suppose she's got an ectopic pregnancy? She never goes to a doctor or clinic but takes a home test, finds it positive and then just goes ahead and takes the over the counter pill?

[CTyankee]

5. without any scientific data backing that decision up?

This is pure politics because it is an election year. I am certain that this was "focus grouped" and found to be unpopular with ordinary folks. However, the FDA should not be guided in their medical decisions in the field of public health, by what the polled masses have to say about it.

I have 3 granddaughters and I would want them to have Plan B available to them. I would have said the same when my daughters were under age 17...

[KittyWampus]

16. Really? You'd want youngsters to have this available with no supervision whatsoever? Really?

That means no trip to a doctor for an exam.

What happens if its an ectopic pregnancy?

This is about children and the need for medical supervision.

Allowing children access without requiring some sort of oversight by a responsible, qualified professional is never going to happen.

[CTyankee]

17. I would hope they would come to me and let me know, of course.

And I have known of an ectopic pregnancy where the parents of the teen didn't know. That is a problem of communication, for sure.

I am not sure, though, that what was envisioned was not without some oversight, such as the dispensing pharmacist. At least that was my understanding of what was actually being proposed.

[Humanist_Activist]

6. Why should the parents know? n/t

[alp227]

7. Maybe because the pill may have health risks that can't be hidden?

[Posteritatis]

9. Such as? (nt)

[alp227]

10. side effects include...

"nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, dizziness, breast tenderness, tiredness and weakness, headache, menstrual changes, and diarrhea." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levonorgestrel#Side_effects)

see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_contraception#Side_effects

It is debatable whether women really died because of birth control.

[cstanleytech]

13. More detailed list of the side effects is

from http://www.drugs.com/sfx/levonorgestrel-side-effects.html

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue; unusual hoarseness); absent menstrual period; breast discharge; breast lumps; calf or leg pain, swelling, or tenderness; change in amount of urine produced; chest pain or heaviness; confusion; coughing of blood; dark urine; fainting; mental or mood changes (eg, depression); migraines; numbness of an arm or leg; one-sided weakness; pale stools; persistent, severe, or recurring headache or dizziness; persistent vaginal spotting; severe pain or tenderness in the stomach; shortness of breath; slurred speech; sudden severe headache or vomiting; swelling of the fingers, hands, legs, or ankles; unusual or severe vaginal bleeding; unusual tiredness or weakness; vaginal irritation, discharge, or change in secretions; vision changes (eg, sudden vision loss, double vision); yellowing of the skin or eyes (with or without fever).

To bad though because if was as safe as a condom (unless of course you are allergic to latex) then it probably would have gotten an ok to be sold to those under 17.

[GusFring]

12. I also think it could make kids not use condoms and that could cause more health issues

[boppers]

8. So, if a father wants to rape his 16 year old, he wouldn't need a prescription?

Nor would she?

[KittyWampus]

14. If a 16 year old is raped, she needs help. But you'd prefer she just take a pill and let the abuse

continue? Or maybe Daddy will just magically stop raping her.

And btw, suppose pregnant 16 year old takes a home test to find out she's pregnant, takes the pill but the pregnancy is ectopic? Because of your warped reasoning she can end up in the emergency room when the tube finally erupts.

[boppers]

18. I did not state a preference.

Not sure what you think my reasoning is, I merely posited a possible consequence.

[RainDog]

11. k&r n/t