RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Want to use birth control, with you gf or wife....TOO BAD

Quote:

---

Wednesday said:
the issue i have is that birth control pills aren't always used as contraception. my ex-wif used to use birth control pills to regulate her cycle (without them she had her period once every two weeks...and that sucked) and missing a day would have been disastrous.

i can understand this pharmacist's dilemna, but she should have given people warning (a month at least), as Uschi said.

---

Quote:

---

Uschi said:
I'm saying you can argue when life starts to the end of the earth and not convince someone who believes differently than you. Life is mysterious. Are fire and viruses alive? Who knows. Are fertilized eggs? I think so, but who really KNOWS?

---

The government is considering allowing over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to women age 18 and older.

The surprise move yesterday revives efforts to widen access to the emergency contraceptive almost a year after it was thought doomed.

The Food and Drug Administration notified manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. that it wanted to meet within seven days to iron out new steps the company must take in its three-year battle to sell the pill, called Plan B, without a prescription to at least some women.

The FDA said a final decision could be reached within weeks, if talks with Barr go well.

The announcement came just 24 hours before President Bush's nominee to lead the regulatory agency, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, was scheduled to appear before a Senate committee, where he was expected to face grilling on why the morning-after pill had apparently gone into bureaucratic limbo.

The pill is a high dose of regular birth control that, taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent.

Advocates and doctors groups say easier access to a pill now available by prescription only could halve the nation's 3 million annual unintended pregnancies, and FDA's own scientists say the pills are safe.

In December 2003, the agency's independent scientific advisers overwhelmingly backed nonprescription sales for all ages.

But the FDA rejected that recommendation, citing concern about young teens' use of the pills without a doctor's guidance. Barr reapplied, asking that women 16 and older be allowed to buy Plan B without a prescription and setting up a program for pharmacists to enforce the age rule, just as they now enforce age restrictions on cigarette sales. The FDA last August postponed a decision indefinitely, but yesterday reversed itself, citing overwhelming positive public comments.

The manufacturer of the "morning-after" pill, along with some women's groups, Democratic lawmakers and medical organizations say the government's decision to allow over-the-counter sales of the drug to those 18 and older is only a partial victory and that they will push for unrestricted access for younger girls as well.

The 60,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) called the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ruling Thursday allowing adults to buy the pill, called Plan B, without a prescription "an important first step" that "only goes halfway."

"Emergency contraception will remain out of reach for sexually active teens 17 and younger because they will still be required to obtain a prescription for the medication," AAP said.

The FDA said Barr Pharmaceuticals showed that Plan B is safe and effective when used by women 18 and older, but data on whether the pill is safe in 17-year-olds who are not under doctor's supervision is not definitive. FDA officials said their decision to restrict over-the-counter sales to those 18 and older was largely a "practical" one based on the fact that 18 is commonly associated with maturity.

A number of Democratic women in Congress, including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Patty Murray of Washington and Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney and Louise M. Slaughter of New York, have said the FDA needs to re-examine the age restrictions.