1.0 Introduction
This essay explores the recent debate surrounding the restrictions placed on the availability of the Plan B One-Step pharmaceutical, which prevents pregnancy after sexual intercourse.
Five main questions have been identified to analyze this debate and these five questions are presented in Sections 2.0 through 6.0, respectively. Section 7.0 presents a brief conclusion and References are provided at the end of the document.
As background for these analyses, it may be helpful to understand chronology of the events as described in The New York Times article, “Judge Strikes Down Age Limits on Morning-After Pill” :
• Plan B One-Step is a morning after pharmaceutical pill, sold by TEVA, designed to prevent pregnancy when taken after sexual intercourse; sometimes as emergency contraception.
• In 1999, FDA approved Plan B as a “prescription-only product.”
• In 2001, a citizen’s petition was filed to make available without a prescription Plan B. Shortly thereafter a Scientific Advisory committee voted in support of the citizen’s petition.
• In 2006, President Bush’s administration permitted “over-the-counter sales to women 18 and older but required a prescription for those 17 and younger.”
• In 2009, Judge Korman ordered that Plan B be made obtainable without prescription for women 17 and older.
• In 2011, FDA sought to lift the restrictions to make Plan B universally available .
• In 2011, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “ruled that girls 16 and younger would need prescriptions” for Plan B, noting that there were insufficient studies in younger girls.
• In 2013, Judge Korman ordered that Plan B be made universally available.
2.0 What is the core debate about?
Because Plan B is typically used after sexu...
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... Ruling (Favoring Abortion) Opposing the ruling
General groups • Women’s reproductive health groups • Conservative groups
• Anti-abortion groups
Specific groups • American Medical Association
• American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Center for Reproductive Rights
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Reproductive Health Technologies Project • Family Research Council
7.0 Conclusion
Politically, there are no easy answers to this issue, and in this debate, FDA became merely, as one sage put it, only a pawn in the game.
Works Cited
Pam Belluck, “Judge Strikes Down Age Limits on Morning-After Pill,” New York Times, April 5, 2013, accessed January 10, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/health/judge-orders-fda-to-make-morning-after-pill-available-over-the-counter-for-all-ages.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3
Subsequently, the provided documents on the birth control movement did show the push and pull factors of the complicated and multifaceted debate. Americas push towards industrial growth, and technology demanded that the subsequent progressive reforms were needed for a society ushering in a new era. At the same time, fear and reluctance to abandon tradition and religious custom acted as the pulling factor. The birth control debate was a complicated and heavily charged debate teemed in religious, social, political, and racial rhetoric. Historical documents help shed new light on the things taken for granted today, even the most seemingly innocuous things like birth control were fought for, so that men and women today could be in charge of their own destinies.
When legally introduced to society in 1960, the Pill stirred up a long period of controversy. The availability of the Pill had great impact on women’s health, social life, laws, religion, family, relationships, morality and sexuality. Initially conceived to be highly effective and safe, the Pill left many women with side effects – few which led to several fatalities. Before the Pill was created, many women postponed sex due to the social norm and fear of becoming pregnant before marriage. Families grew large and it was typical for a woman to have multiple children caused by the lack of birth control. Due to regulations, such as the Comstock laws, many people supported the prohibition of the Pill and other family planning practices. However, many women believed in the right to control their own body when it came to procreation. Despite the controversies, the Pill left lasting impacts, such as by opening society to the sexual revolution and...
The emergency contraception pill (ECP), most commonly known as “the morning-after pill,” is a back-up birth control method that is used after unprotected sex, contraceptive failure, or rape. It prevents pregnancy from occurring, however, it is not a method for abortion nor does it protect against sexually transmitted diseases.
Mrs. Victoria Gillick is a mother of ten. Five of those are girls below sixteen years old. As a Christian, she believes that contraception promotes under age sex. In 1985, Mrs. Victoria Gillick lost her case vs. West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority allowing physicians to prescribe contraceptives to girls less than sixteen years of age without parental consent. After the case was settled, the Law Lords ruled that doctors putting girls less than sixteen years of age under pills without
Modern birth control pills were approved by the FDA in the 1960s. This was heralded
Sanger died in September of 1966, but lived to see the realization of her “magic pill” as well as the undoing of the Comstock Laws. In 1965, Griswold vs. Connecticut, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the private use of contraceptives was a constitutional right. Sanger left behind the legacy of her birth control league, which changed its name to the Planned Parenthood Association in 1942, as well as two autobiographies, My Fight For Birth Control and Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography.
The following year the ban on contraceptives was called off and doctors could now legally prescribe birth control. (499) But this didn't mean that women were now running to get a prescription form of birth control, they still preferred other methods. Many women could not afford prescriptions or did not live close enough to a clinic. Convenience, affordability, and discreetness was still what women looked for when choosing a form of birth control. New laws in 1938 that governed medical devices had little impact on commercially sold birth control products because they were still being sold as vaginal cleansers. Women came to depend on “feminine hygiene” products more than any other method of birth control even well after the pill was developed in
With all the work put into finding ways to prevent pregnancy and help the pain of menstrual cycles, it is a shame to see it denied to women working for big companies. The amount of girls and women who use any type of birth control is very high and continues to stay this way because of the benefits and the percentage of birth control working for these women. Taking away working women’s access to affordable birth control is unacceptable and I hope that one day soon all women will have access to affordable birth
"Minors Access to Contraceptive Health Care." Can I Get Birth Control Without Parent Permission?. 12 05 2005. Web. 11 Jan 2010. .
The subject of abortion has created some of the most controversial, social, and moral debates in United States history. On Jan. 22, 1973, in the case Roe Vs. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that it was a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion during the first trimester of the pregnancy (The Ruling). Still other interest groups argue that human life begins at conception and having an abortion is murder to an unborn child. These opposing viewpoints create a delicate political and social debate in which the lives of unborn children are placed in the center. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the RU 486 “abortion pill”, citing that the “overall safety of the pill is excellent”(Food and Drug). This scientific development has the potential to make abortions much more accessible and private to American women. I believe that the abortion pill harbors great qualities for women who choose abortion, yet is an enormous medical setback because it will cost the lives of so many more unborn children.
Robert Creamer. "Protecting Access to Birth Control Does Not Violate Religious Freedom." Current Controversies: Politics and Religion. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Lee’s Summit High School. 31 Oct. 2013
The female birth control pill became available to the public in 1961. During that time period the acceptance of women sexuality was becoming more common; however, critics felt that the pill promoted unnecessary female sexual behavior. The fact that a woman could partake in casual sex without worrying about becoming pregnant was an issue amongst many people in society. Although premarital sex was not completely shunned as it was a couple decades previous to that time, many still felt as if a woman should not enjoy multiple sexual relationships. Women were expected to only act or feel sexually toward one man who she was in a serious relationship with. With that being said, the grounds for accepting the use of female contraceptive...
the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut court case was a landmark case it involved the connecticut law from 1879 that banned the use of any drug used for birth control. the supreme court ruled that the use of contraceptives is protected under the right to marital privacy and government intrusion in the matter is unconstitutional. this right to decide whether or not to have a child applied only to married couples, the 1972 Eisenstadt v. Baird case changed that. in 1967 William Baird, after giving a lecture, gave a condom and a box of Emko Vaginal Foam to an unmarried 19 year old woman and ...
The following essay is an attempt to critically compare and contrast these two approaches from various aspects, and deduce which one is more encompassing.
Sedgwick, Jacqueline. "American Adolescents and Emergency Contraceptive Pill Access." Age of Consent. Ed. Christine Watkins. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "American Adolescents and Emergency Contraceptive Pill Access: Moving Beyond Politics." http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/719371. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.