![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
dyfferent.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
vaginapaginaThe one thing that activists on every side of the abortion debate agree on
is that we should reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. There are 3
million unintended pregnancies each year in the United States; around 1.4
million of them end in abortion. Yet the best tool for reducing unwanted
pregnancies has only been used by 2 percent of all adult women in the
United States, and only 11 percent of us know enough about it to be able to
use it. No, we aren't talking about abstinence--we mean something that
works!
The tool is EC, which stands for Emergency Contraception (and is also known
as the Morning After Pill). For more than twenty-five years, doctors have
dispensed EC "off label" in the form of a handful of daily birth control
pills. Meanwhile, many women have taken matters into their own hands by
popping a handful themselves after one of those nights--you know, when the
condom broke or the diaphragm slipped or for whatever reason you had
unprotected sex.
Preven (on the market since 1998) and Plan B (approved in 1999), the
dedicated forms of EC, operate essentially as a higher-dose version of the
Pill. The first dose is taken within seventy-two hours after unprotected
sex, and a second pill is taken twelve hours later. EC is at least 75
percent effective in preventing an unwanted pregnancy after sex by
interrupting ovulation, fertilization and implantation of the egg.
If you are sexually active, or even if you're not right now, you should
keep a dose of EC on hand. It's less anxiety-producing than waiting around
to see if you miss your period; much easier, cheaper and more pleasant than
having to arrange for a surgical abortion. To find an EC provider in your
area, see www.backupyourbirthcontrol.org, www.not-2-late.com or
ec.princeton.edu/providers/index.html.
Pass this on to anyone you think may not know about backing up their birth
control (or do your own thing and let us know about it). Let's make sure we
have access to our own hard-won sexual and reproductive freedom!
The Things You Need to Know About EC
EC is easy. A woman takes a dose of EC within seventy-two hours of
unprotected sex, followed by a second dose twelve hours later.
EC is legal.
EC is safe. It is FDA-approved and supported by the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
EC is not an abortion. Anti-choicers who call EC "the abortion pill" or
"chemical abortion" also believe contraceptive pills, injections and IUDs
are abortions. According to the FDA, EC pills "are not effective if the
woman is pregnant; they act primarily by delaying or inhibiting ovulation,
and/or by altering tubal transport of sperm and/or ova (thereby inhibiting
fertilization), and/or altering the endometrium (thereby inhibiting
implantation)."
EC has a long shelf life. You can keep your EC on hand for at least two years.
EC is for women who use birth control. You should back up your birth
control by keeping a dose of EC in your medicine cabinet or purse.
What You Can Do to Help
Forward this e-mail to everyone you know. Post it on lists, especially
those with lots of women and girls. Print out this information, photocopy
it to make instant leaflets and pass them around in your community. Call
your healthcare provider, clinic, or university health service and ask if
they provide EC. Spread the word if they do. Lobby them (via petitions,
meetings with the administrators, etc.) to offer EC if they don't.
Make sure that your ER has EC on hand for rape victims and offers it to
them as a matter of policy. Many hospitals, including most Catholic
hospitals, do not dispense EC even to rape victims.
Get in touch with local organizations--Planned Parenthood, NOW, NARAL,
campus groups--and work with them to pressure hospitals to amend their
policies.
If you can't find a group, start your own. Submit an Op-Ed to your local
paper or send letters to the editor about EC.
Make sure your pharmacy fills EC prescriptions. Some states have
"conscience clauses" that exempt pharmacists from dispensing drugs that
have to do with women's reproductive freedom.
© 2002 The Nation Company, L.P.
On a personal note, I have used emergency contraception for the first time this month and I experienced no ill side effects, not even nausea. While the likelihood of my getting pregnant was low, it was really worthwhile to have that extra peace of mind.
is that we should reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. There are 3
million unintended pregnancies each year in the United States; around 1.4
million of them end in abortion. Yet the best tool for reducing unwanted
pregnancies has only been used by 2 percent of all adult women in the
United States, and only 11 percent of us know enough about it to be able to
use it. No, we aren't talking about abstinence--we mean something that
works!
The tool is EC, which stands for Emergency Contraception (and is also known
as the Morning After Pill). For more than twenty-five years, doctors have
dispensed EC "off label" in the form of a handful of daily birth control
pills. Meanwhile, many women have taken matters into their own hands by
popping a handful themselves after one of those nights--you know, when the
condom broke or the diaphragm slipped or for whatever reason you had
unprotected sex.
Preven (on the market since 1998) and Plan B (approved in 1999), the
dedicated forms of EC, operate essentially as a higher-dose version of the
Pill. The first dose is taken within seventy-two hours after unprotected
sex, and a second pill is taken twelve hours later. EC is at least 75
percent effective in preventing an unwanted pregnancy after sex by
interrupting ovulation, fertilization and implantation of the egg.
If you are sexually active, or even if you're not right now, you should
keep a dose of EC on hand. It's less anxiety-producing than waiting around
to see if you miss your period; much easier, cheaper and more pleasant than
having to arrange for a surgical abortion. To find an EC provider in your
area, see www.backupyourbirthcontrol.org, www.not-2-late.com or
ec.princeton.edu/providers/index.html.
Pass this on to anyone you think may not know about backing up their birth
control (or do your own thing and let us know about it). Let's make sure we
have access to our own hard-won sexual and reproductive freedom!
The Things You Need to Know About EC
EC is easy. A woman takes a dose of EC within seventy-two hours of
unprotected sex, followed by a second dose twelve hours later.
EC is legal.
EC is safe. It is FDA-approved and supported by the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
EC is not an abortion. Anti-choicers who call EC "the abortion pill" or
"chemical abortion" also believe contraceptive pills, injections and IUDs
are abortions. According to the FDA, EC pills "are not effective if the
woman is pregnant; they act primarily by delaying or inhibiting ovulation,
and/or by altering tubal transport of sperm and/or ova (thereby inhibiting
fertilization), and/or altering the endometrium (thereby inhibiting
implantation)."
EC has a long shelf life. You can keep your EC on hand for at least two years.
EC is for women who use birth control. You should back up your birth
control by keeping a dose of EC in your medicine cabinet or purse.
What You Can Do to Help
Forward this e-mail to everyone you know. Post it on lists, especially
those with lots of women and girls. Print out this information, photocopy
it to make instant leaflets and pass them around in your community. Call
your healthcare provider, clinic, or university health service and ask if
they provide EC. Spread the word if they do. Lobby them (via petitions,
meetings with the administrators, etc.) to offer EC if they don't.
Make sure that your ER has EC on hand for rape victims and offers it to
them as a matter of policy. Many hospitals, including most Catholic
hospitals, do not dispense EC even to rape victims.
Get in touch with local organizations--Planned Parenthood, NOW, NARAL,
campus groups--and work with them to pressure hospitals to amend their
policies.
If you can't find a group, start your own. Submit an Op-Ed to your local
paper or send letters to the editor about EC.
Make sure your pharmacy fills EC prescriptions. Some states have
"conscience clauses" that exempt pharmacists from dispensing drugs that
have to do with women's reproductive freedom.
© 2002 The Nation Company, L.P.
On a personal note, I have used emergency contraception for the first time this month and I experienced no ill side effects, not even nausea. While the likelihood of my getting pregnant was low, it was really worthwhile to have that extra peace of mind.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2002-09-01 07:00 am (UTC)Being that it is a preventative measure and does not "kill" anything I am sure women on all sides of abortion debates could find this to be of excellent benefit!
Thanks for sharing
*runs to check exp date on personal stock
no subject
Date: 2002-09-01 07:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-09-01 08:40 am (UTC)Basically, if you would be willing to use birth control pills or the IUD, then the EC pill isn't any different/harsher than these forms of contraception--at least from what I was told at the pharmacy. I was told there is a risk of nausea, throwing up the pill, in which case you will have to take another pill to replace it (if you lose the pill within three hours). otherwise it doesn't look any harsher on your body than oral contraception (NOTE: the emergency pill doesn't offer any further contraception beyond the short window it's in your body and will NOT make up for continuing not to take the BC pill).
For me, I thought I had another pack of BC pills. I didn't--it was an empty container. Eek. Since I had unprotected sex prior to the time I normally take my pill, and it takes 24 hours to get a prescription from my NHS doctor, I took the EC pill to be on the safe side (as I had missed two BC pills at the point I could get my prescription filled--nothing is 24 hours over here!). I definitely want no children--in fact this little scare made me feel even surer of that fact. In the UK, where I now live, you can buy the EC at any pharmacy without a prescription, say if your doctor's not open at the time. I will never go without it again! Had I but known I could get it at any UK pharmacy I would have taken it quite a lot sooner, in fact!
no subject
Date: 2002-09-01 09:15 pm (UTC)Support your local Family Planning clinic. They're lovely people.
(I haven't made an introductory post. I wasn't really planning to join in the conversation, but this subject got my attention. Hi there.)
no subject
Date: 2002-09-03 10:00 pm (UTC)however, i had to take EC again (for the same reason) just two weeks ago and the ladies at PP gave me Plan B. i didn't have any side effects from it (other than getting my period five days after i had just finished one). i couldn't even tell i had taken it.
and they do the same thing - they offer it so that you can have a supply at home just in case. It was $53 the first time because you have to sit with a doctor and talk, and then only $17 whenever you need it after that (for up to two years.)
i would highly recommend it to anyone that's in need.