Emergency contraception, also known as the morning-after-pills are used world wide after unprotected sex. The pill is a high dosage of the birth control pill. The pills are recommended to be used after sexual intercourse, over a 72 hours period in order to end pregnancy. Heath departments have done some research on the effect of the pill on women’s health. It has become a controversial issue over whether or not the emergency contraception should be legalized. Even though the morning-after-pill could have negative impacts on a women’s health, the decision to consume the drug should be a personal choice.
The idea of the emergency contraception is based on a theory. This theory says, if a woman has sexual intercourse and fear the she may become pregnant, she could take a large concentration of birth control pills (Wells). And if the woman is already pregnant, the high dosage of the birth control pills could act to kill the embryo. The morning-after-pill could work in three different ways. It could inhibit ovulation, preventing the egg to be released; alter the normal menstrual cycle and delay ovulation; irritate the lining of the uterus so that if both ovulation and menstrual cycle remain normal and the woman become pregnant, the embryo will die before it could be attached to the lining of the uterus. The third action is also known as a chemical abortion where the female body rejects the embryo and prevents it from nourishments and will eventually die. Some side effects that could occur after taking the morning-after-pill are nausea, vomiting, infertility, breast tenderness, ectopic pregnancy, and blood clot formations. It also does not offer protection against sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. No studies have shown whether women will be permanently damaged from chemicals being given in such high doses (The Morning After Pill).
In 2002, it was reported that girls as young as 11 will be able to obtain the morning-after-pill at a London school without their parent’s consent. This London school is located in Wandsworth town, which has the fifth highest teenage pregnancy rate in inner London. Four out of ten girls had become mothers. Parents are horrified over this issue; they feel that the government is trying to take away any control that parents have. One mother of a 12 year old said, "If you're going to give children an easy option it's not teaching anybody how to be responsible or accountable for their actions.” (Henderson). It has become a problem for London because morning-after-pills are so easily accessible. Young girls are taking advantage of having a backup plan; therefore, kids are engaged in sexual activities at a much younger age and consuming contraceptives more frequently.
In August of 2006, the Food and Drug Administration approved nationwide over-the-counter sales of the “morning-after” pill to adults 18 and older. The drug currently costs between $25 and $40 a dose. FDA has been changing its rules for the past three years (Pharmacists fight rule on morning-after pill). From selling of the contraception to women of all ages without a prescription, to consumers 16 years and older, and then 17 and older with a doctor’s prescription. They finally settled on age 18 because it already is the age with much restrictions (Bremner).
It may seem that, in order to decrease the use of morning-after-pills, the government need to make stop the selling of contraceptives over the counter. A study reported in 2007 showed that adolescent girls were well aware of the existence of emergency contraception even before the non-prescription statues. Even though condom is the most frequent used contraceptive method, but failures in the use are frequent. Adolescents need to be aware that there is a method of preventing pregnancy even after an unprotected intercourse. In 2001, nearly all girls from age 14 to 18 were aware of Emergency Contraceptive. A slight increase in awareness was observed from year 1999 to 2003, but this was not related to non-prescription status. Over-the-counter selling did not increase the use (Kobra).
Whether or not the government should ban the morning-after-pill, the public need to gain awareness of the pill’s benefits and also its harms. Taking emergency contraceptives do have some adverse effects. But because of the short duration of treatment, long-term adverse effects are extremely unlikely. Even though the doses used are higher than those used for routine contraception, it is not generally associated with any serious side effects (Marisa). The pill is not intended for routine contraceptive use; its use could minimize the number of unanticipated pregnancies, preventing the physical and emotional burden of an unwanted pregnancy, and also reduce health care costs. The use of Emergency Contraceptive is limited by the lack of patient and practitioner awareness and treatment accessibility. It is necessary to make Emergency Contraceptive available without a prescription and to promote public awareness, in order to increase patient accessibility.
Bibliography
Bremner, J. Douglas. Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health. New York: Avery, February 28, 2008.
Henderson, Diedtra. “FDA approves sale of ‘morning-after’ pill.” The Boston Globe [Boston] August 25, 2006. April 14, 2008
Kobra Falah-Hassani, Elise Kosunen, Rahman Shiri, and Arja Rimpelä. BMC Public Health. 2007; 7: 201. Published online 2007 August 9. 10.1186/1471-2458-7-201. PMCID: PMC1976617
Marisa N Mendez. West J Med. 2002 May; 176(3): 188–191. PMCID: PMC1071713
“Pharmacists fight rule on morning-after pill.” The State[Columbia]. March 19, 2008. Date April 14, 2008
“The Morning After Pill.” American Life League, Inc. October 18, 2004. April 14, 2008 http://www.morningafterpill.org/.
Wells, Norman, andHelena Hayward. Waking Up to the Morning-after Pill. Whitton: Family Education Trust, December 3, 2007.
