Republicans, Plan B and Women
Last night 60 Minutes did a segment, The Debate Over Plan B, about the morning after pill, Plan B. This is an issue that should be one of the most important issues facing women today whether they approve of abortion or not. This pill has become a hot-button topic for anti-abortion rights groups and the controversy over religious groups dictating science decision making.
First, let's see what Plan B is and is not...
Plan B is contraceptive. It does not interrupt an established pregnancy.
Plan B is not an abortion pill. An abortion pill interrupts pregnancy.
One would certainly think that anti-abortion and religious groups would be encouraging the use of this pill considering it will prevent hundreds of abortions every year. [Even if you took it and were already pregnant, it would not end the pregnancy. The only connection this product has with abortion is that it can prevent them by preventing an unintended pregnancy.] However, as we will see that is not the case.
Sadly, this has become a political issue for the rightwing moral [cough] conservatives. The big debate over this pill started when...
[clip]
It is only available by prescription. But because women need to take it within 72 hours, the drug's manufacturer applied to the Food and Drug Administration two years ago for permission to sell Plan B over the counter. The drug is considered totally safe, so the request was seen as a slam dunk.
Now this is where politics enters the picture...
[clip]
While most doctors do not consider that an abortion, anti-abortion-rights doctors do, such as David Hager, a gynecologist from Lexington, Ky., who won’t prescribe Plan B for his own patients.
“One of the mechanisms of action can be to inhibit implantation, which means that it may act as an abortifacient,” says Dr. Hager. He says abortifacient means it causes an abortion and that this medication may act to inhibit implantation.
In 2002, Dr. Hager got a call from the Bush White House asking him to serve on the FDA advisory committee charged with reviewing Plan B’s over-the-counter application along with two other anti-abortion-rights physicians. But when Hager argued against Plan B at committee meetings, he didn’t talk about abortion.
“I was concerned about 10, 11, 12-year-old girls buying this product,” says Hager.
He raised moral questions. “I’m not in favor of promotion of a product that would increase sexual activity among teenagers,” he says.
Hager speculated about an increase in sexually-transmitted diseases. “I’m saying that it is possible that with the use of Plan B the individual may put herself at greater risk,” he says.
But the advisory panel reviewed 40 studies that refuted his objections and showed that Plan B does not lead to more cases of sexually transmitted disease, or more risky sexual behavior.
Even Dr. Hager admits Plan B is totally safe. The FDA says there have been no deaths, no heart attacks, no strokes and no evidence of misuse or abuse.
But, he says, one of his major concerns is that young women wouldn’t go to their doctors if such a drug were readily available. “If we approve this for over-the-counter sale, then what is that going to do as far as what I call access to medical care for younger adolescent women?” Hager asks.
Dr. Susan Wood headed the FDA’s Office of Women’s Health and disputes that view. “Is this cutting the doctor out? Would it cut out their relationship? Well, in fact, I think there’s strong argument that the physicians themselves want this product to be over the counter.”
Wood says the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Medical Association have all endorsed making this product available over the counter. That includes pediatrics, meaning younger girls.
If Plan B is sold over the counter anyone — any age — could buy it easily in a drugstore, like cough syrup or bubble bath. A big part of this issue is whether pharmacies will stock it. What if they refuse to carry Plan B?
In a survey of drugstores in Kentucky, Dr. Hager’s home state, the American Civil Liberties Union found that most pharmacies didn’t carry Plan B; 83 of them said they would even refuse to order it for women with prescriptions. These include Wal-Mart, which has a nationwide policy against dispensing Plan B.
Here is this little tidbit...
[clip]
So, with Plan B mired in the abortion debate, the FDA advisory committee took its vote on recommending whether it should be sold over the counter. Dr. Hager voted “no.” But his colleagues on the committee rejected his arguments, voting 23 to four in favor of offering the drug over the counter.
Such a lop-sided vote should have meant the application would sail through. But then the saga of Plan B took a strange turn.
Dr. Hager says someone at the FDA — he won’t say who — asked him to write a “minority report” in which he asked for more studies and more data on the use of Plan B by young girls.
A few months later something totally unexpected happened: The FDA ignored the committee’s overwhelming vote and rejected the proposal to sell Plan B over the counter, citing the very concerns in Hager’s report.
Some people believe Hager raised these objections because of his religious beliefs, but that’s something he denies. “The religious aspect did not enter into that decision for me,” he says.
But in to a speech he gave to a Christian college, he seemed to admit his role was all about religion. “God has used me to stand in the breach for the cause of the kingdom,” Hager said at the time.
He was talking about Plan B.
On a side note [I & II]...
[clip]
[I] In fact, according to a government investigation, top FDA officials had decided to reject Plan B’s over the counter application months before the scientific staff completed its review. Was there pressure from the White House?
The investigators said they couldn’t find out because e-mails and documents relating to the matter were destroyed.
[II] Dr. Susan Wood was so outraged by the FDA postponement that she promptly resigned as director of the Office of Women’s Health in protest.
There is so much more to this story so please, I encourage everyone to read the transcript from the 60 Minutes segment if you were unable to watch it last night.
Some things to think about...
First, if this pill prevents abortions why are the Republicans so against it? Could it be that they prefer to have abortion a big issue in the 2006 elections?
Secondly, ladies please note the pill is contraceptive so why are the Republicans so against it? Do they want to do away with our contraceptives?
Third, if you ladies think that Judge Samuel Alito will not overturn Roe v Wade if he is confirmed to the USSC, you better think again.
Fourth, to all of you women who voted for Bush and his corrupt rightwing administration, I hope now you see he could care less about womens rights.
Fifth and most importantly...VOTE!
First, let's see what Plan B is and is not...
Plan B is contraceptive. It does not interrupt an established pregnancy.
Plan B is not an abortion pill. An abortion pill interrupts pregnancy.
One would certainly think that anti-abortion and religious groups would be encouraging the use of this pill considering it will prevent hundreds of abortions every year. [Even if you took it and were already pregnant, it would not end the pregnancy. The only connection this product has with abortion is that it can prevent them by preventing an unintended pregnancy.] However, as we will see that is not the case.
Sadly, this has become a political issue for the rightwing moral [cough] conservatives. The big debate over this pill started when...
[clip]
It is only available by prescription. But because women need to take it within 72 hours, the drug's manufacturer applied to the Food and Drug Administration two years ago for permission to sell Plan B over the counter. The drug is considered totally safe, so the request was seen as a slam dunk.
Now this is where politics enters the picture...
[clip]
While most doctors do not consider that an abortion, anti-abortion-rights doctors do, such as David Hager, a gynecologist from Lexington, Ky., who won’t prescribe Plan B for his own patients.
“One of the mechanisms of action can be to inhibit implantation, which means that it may act as an abortifacient,” says Dr. Hager. He says abortifacient means it causes an abortion and that this medication may act to inhibit implantation.
In 2002, Dr. Hager got a call from the Bush White House asking him to serve on the FDA advisory committee charged with reviewing Plan B’s over-the-counter application along with two other anti-abortion-rights physicians. But when Hager argued against Plan B at committee meetings, he didn’t talk about abortion.
“I was concerned about 10, 11, 12-year-old girls buying this product,” says Hager.
He raised moral questions. “I’m not in favor of promotion of a product that would increase sexual activity among teenagers,” he says.
Hager speculated about an increase in sexually-transmitted diseases. “I’m saying that it is possible that with the use of Plan B the individual may put herself at greater risk,” he says.
But the advisory panel reviewed 40 studies that refuted his objections and showed that Plan B does not lead to more cases of sexually transmitted disease, or more risky sexual behavior.
Even Dr. Hager admits Plan B is totally safe. The FDA says there have been no deaths, no heart attacks, no strokes and no evidence of misuse or abuse.
But, he says, one of his major concerns is that young women wouldn’t go to their doctors if such a drug were readily available. “If we approve this for over-the-counter sale, then what is that going to do as far as what I call access to medical care for younger adolescent women?” Hager asks.
Dr. Susan Wood headed the FDA’s Office of Women’s Health and disputes that view. “Is this cutting the doctor out? Would it cut out their relationship? Well, in fact, I think there’s strong argument that the physicians themselves want this product to be over the counter.”
Wood says the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Medical Association have all endorsed making this product available over the counter. That includes pediatrics, meaning younger girls.
If Plan B is sold over the counter anyone — any age — could buy it easily in a drugstore, like cough syrup or bubble bath. A big part of this issue is whether pharmacies will stock it. What if they refuse to carry Plan B?
In a survey of drugstores in Kentucky, Dr. Hager’s home state, the American Civil Liberties Union found that most pharmacies didn’t carry Plan B; 83 of them said they would even refuse to order it for women with prescriptions. These include Wal-Mart, which has a nationwide policy against dispensing Plan B.
Here is this little tidbit...
[clip]
So, with Plan B mired in the abortion debate, the FDA advisory committee took its vote on recommending whether it should be sold over the counter. Dr. Hager voted “no.” But his colleagues on the committee rejected his arguments, voting 23 to four in favor of offering the drug over the counter.
Such a lop-sided vote should have meant the application would sail through. But then the saga of Plan B took a strange turn.
Dr. Hager says someone at the FDA — he won’t say who — asked him to write a “minority report” in which he asked for more studies and more data on the use of Plan B by young girls.
A few months later something totally unexpected happened: The FDA ignored the committee’s overwhelming vote and rejected the proposal to sell Plan B over the counter, citing the very concerns in Hager’s report.
Some people believe Hager raised these objections because of his religious beliefs, but that’s something he denies. “The religious aspect did not enter into that decision for me,” he says.
But in to a speech he gave to a Christian college, he seemed to admit his role was all about religion. “God has used me to stand in the breach for the cause of the kingdom,” Hager said at the time.
He was talking about Plan B.
On a side note [I & II]...
[clip]
[I] In fact, according to a government investigation, top FDA officials had decided to reject Plan B’s over the counter application months before the scientific staff completed its review. Was there pressure from the White House?
The investigators said they couldn’t find out because e-mails and documents relating to the matter were destroyed.
[II] Dr. Susan Wood was so outraged by the FDA postponement that she promptly resigned as director of the Office of Women’s Health in protest.
There is so much more to this story so please, I encourage everyone to read the transcript from the 60 Minutes segment if you were unable to watch it last night.
Some things to think about...
First, if this pill prevents abortions why are the Republicans so against it? Could it be that they prefer to have abortion a big issue in the 2006 elections?
Secondly, ladies please note the pill is contraceptive so why are the Republicans so against it? Do they want to do away with our contraceptives?
Third, if you ladies think that Judge Samuel Alito will not overturn Roe v Wade if he is confirmed to the USSC, you better think again.
Fourth, to all of you women who voted for Bush and his corrupt rightwing administration, I hope now you see he could care less about womens rights.
Fifth and most importantly...VOTE!
posted by Sandy at 7:03 AM
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