Thank the FDA for Approving Plan B!

It is agreed that Plan B is safe and effective when sold OTC.

The debate has been whether women will misuse this technology. Various kinds of misuse have been proposed. Teenage sex, unthinking sex, and "If it feels good, do it" are some of the bad behaviours that some people think Plan B will enable. The debate has been whether these things actualy are bad behaviours and whether Plan B OTC will encourages them.

I'm glad that Plan B OTC increases women's ability to run their own lives.

 

Again, depending on how it's presented. It would need to include an honest discussion of the risks, both physical and emotional, of promiscuous behavior. Premarital abstinence is the only sure way to avoid these.

What was your point in mentioning private consultations with one's doctor? Also, prescriptions needn't be filled right away. It's possible to have one "standing by" in case it's needed. (That's what I do for an asthma inhaler.)

This is certainly better than stocking it on grocery store shelves.

That's a truly asinine comparison. There's no similarity between denying housing to an entire class of people based on race or religion and refusing to participate in killing other human beings.

Says who? Pharmacists are also medical professionals. Moreover, Plan B isn't even medicine, as it treats no actual malady.

 

What in the HELL is promiscuous behaviour? Who gets to determine such? Why must abstainance be pushed when obviously, from the state of things NOW, it doesn't freaking work?

 

I love you drumminmamma.

And a wonderful reference to The Meaning of Life.

 

If it's rape, then procecute as rape. The Plan B doesn't "facilitate" statuatory rape any more than condoms do, or allowing older men proximity to younger girls, stat rape has ben around for ages. Young girls have been lured into sex by older men since the beginning of time, this Red Herring argument was just invented to try to get the Womyn's Movement involved, but it is so ridiculous that it isn't going to work. If "older men will now be having sex with 15 year olds, since they can now give them Plan B" is the BEST the Right can come up with, they certainly deserve the lack of the People's backing they have been getting of late.

It's a lame argument. Plan B is not going to increase "statuatory rape" nor is it an "aborficent." What about pharmacists who feel people in pain "deserve it" and start refusing to fill pain pills? What about pharmacists who "don't belelive" in ADHD and start refusing to fill young people's ADD medication? What about pharmacists who "don't beleive" in messing with old men's sex ability and start refusing to fill their Viagra prescriptions? What about pharmacists who feel people being treated for AIDS and other STD "deserve what they are getting" and start refusing to fill their prescriptions? What about pharmacists who "don't beleive" in treating illness with "Man's Medicine" and start refusing to fill ANY prescription, seeing illness as a punishment from God, and instead refering the patients to a Faith Healer? These people have NO business in HEALTH CARE. The majority of Viagra prescriptions don't treat an illness or "actual malady," (reserve diabetes or other diseases which effect the vascular system, MOST Viagra presctiptions are simply for older men who want to have more erections and harder ones, so what?) neither do drugs like prescription wrinkle creams and Botox Cosmetic, or even, for that matter, the majority of Plastic Surgery. Yet, these are still "health care" issues.

If pharmacists or doctors or nurses or resp techs or anyone else doesn't want to do the job they said they would fulfill, they need an other profession.

Don't "believe in" Plan B? Don't use it. Simple.

 

As for the "it's not a medical malady" neither is pregnancy, but there is an entire FIELD of medicine dedicated to taking care of pregnant womyn. Obstetrics. and Midwifery. It doesn't have to be a "malady" to sometimes require medical help.

Should there be no OBs and no midwives, because most of the time, pregnancy itself isn't a "malady?"

 

From the Random House Dictionary



drug1 (drug), n., v., drugged, drug·ging.
–n.
1. Pharm. a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being.
2. (in federal law)
a. any substance recognized in the official pharmacopoeia or formulary of the nation.
b. any substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or other animals.
c. any article, other than food, intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or other animals.
d. any substance intended for use as a component of such a drug, but not a device or a part of a device.


Obviously, Plan B IS a drug. It can enhance physical or mental well being, in those who cannot endure a pregnancy. It is recognised as a a substance in the Official Pharmacopoeia or Formulary of the Nation, it can Mitigate or prevent a disease (pregnancy can CAUSE illness in many cases, and Plan B mitigates this) and it is any article, other than food, intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or other animals.

Nuff said.

 

Dude. Huck Finn needs to read up on some facts:
"Plan B is not an abortifacient. It is an emergency contraceptive and should not be confused with RU486 or any other abortifacient. Plan B is not effective if a woman is pregnant."
- http://www.go2planb.com/section/about/index.html

I really don't think women are going to start popping PlanB like candy- the side effects of the drug kinda suck. If some skank wants to go through bleeding, cramping and nausea just so she can skip the condom, thats her problem. Also, regular birth control pills can be taken in certain combinations to achieve the same effect as the MAP.

Why does this kind of arguement always come back to premarital abstinence? I am married and I have 1 child. If the condom breaks I'm going straight to the pharmacy and getting the pill. Does that make me irresponsible?

Most pharmacists are Doctors of Pharmacy. They know more about medications than most MDs. They are also legally bound to provide patient consultation to explain risks, use and dosage of medications.

As for the safety of this drug, it is relatively safe. All BC pills carry the risks and this one is no different. Tylenol is available otc and prolonged use can lead to kidney and liver problems...should that be rx only too?


I think having the MAP available over the counter is a great thing. It's about damn time.

 

That's Great News!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Dude, like, totally check this out:

"Hormonal emergency contraception sometimes takes place after fertilization by preventing

implantation of the embryo in the lining of the uterus. In this case, it becomes an early abortion, if one recognizes the traditional definition of pregnancy to be the gestational process from conception to birth. In this definition, conception is understood as the instant that a sperm and an ovum unite to form an embryo. Several studies have shown that use of the Yuzpe regimen and Plan B alter the lining of the uterus, making it difficult for an embryo to implant there."​

http://www.theannals.com/cgi/data/36/3/465/DC1/1​

 

Are you seriously that ignorant?

I'm about to laugh.

 

Dude, like, totally take up your arguement with the FDA/science/the medical field as a whole. That theory only works if you believe that life begins when the sperm and egg join. In reality what you have is a mass of cells. A zygote, not a teensy little baby.

If you have a problem with birth control due to religion, admit it. Don't pretend that you are concerned about wayward teens or sexual predators abusing this drug. It cheapens your whole arguement.

 

The "other debate" about pharmacists not wanting to prescribe certain drugs is a non-issue. If they are morally against dispensing drugs that may harm a fetus then they should never step foot in a pharmacy. The MAP isn't the only pill that can interrupt a pregnancy. Depakote can cause a fetus to form without a spinal column. Other heart medications can cause fetuses to form without arms, legs, heads and brains. Should the pharmacist be allowed to refuse to fill these too? Or are they ok because they don't hinder conception?

 

This "mass of cells" is a living human organism. That's a matter of scientific fact, not religion. Note the source of the paper I cited.

These concerns have to do with its availability without a prescription, not whether pharmacists should be free not to dispense it. These are separate (but related) issues.

Would any responsible doctor knowingly prescribe these other drugs for a pregnant woman?

 

I'm not sure what the problem is.

If it is appropriate to use Plan B with a doctors guidance (and perscription), why not let the woman provide her own guidance?

Are women so flighty and foolish, that their judgment must be checked by an MD? I don't think so.

I think that a woman can decide for herself how Plan B fits into her notions of morality. She doesn't need a doctor's experience or education to make these decisions. If she wants a doctor's thoughts, she can ask one.

Why not just trust a woman to make the right decision about her birth control?

 

So, how do you feel about stem cell research? What about living human tissue that is being grown in a petri dish, just to be tested on? What do you think about growing human cells from somebody's DNA to grow organs, body parts, to be used for testing?

Do you believe that the first doctors that tried to artificially inseminate a human female and failed, were murderers?

 

That's moronic. A tumor can't develop as a human being in any environment.

I strongly support non-embryonic stem cell research, which is the only type that has ever yielded any medical benefits:

http://www.stemcellresearch.org/

Human embryos are not mere cell masses:

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/lee_george200601250829.asp

Unlike in-vitro fertilization, artificial insemination doesn't tamper with human embryos.

 

*blinks*

 

What are you confused about?

I provided an informative link about stem cell research.

As for artificial insemination, it occurs in the womb, not a test tube. Therefore, it doesn't endanger human embryos.