No Safeguards, No Compassion

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof thinks the US should emulate countries where life is held more cheaply and there are fewer safeguards for the health of our citizens. And he would recommend this for some of our most vulnerable citizens, teenage girls. Here's his column, "Beyond the Chastity Belt", via RCP:

Plan B, the emergency contraceptive, normally prevents pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex — although it is most effective when taken within 24 hours. It is now available in most of the U.S. only by prescription, but the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have both endorsed it for over-the-counter use.

President Bush's Food and Drug Administration has blocked that, apparently fearing that better contraception will encourage promiscuity. But unless the libidophobes in the administration mandate chastity belts, their opposition to Plan B amounts to a pro-abortion policy.

So this is what the feminist movement and their liberal supporters have come to---letting everyone off the hook for their behaviour, including older men who prey on them, and teenage boys. Let's let these girls go through this alone.

Kristoff wants morning after pills, Plan B, to be sold over the counter next to gum and Snickers bars. Here are possible side effects of the drug:

The intended use of most of the products involved will mean that they are likely to have been used immediately after purchase. However, consumers may have suffered ill effects at the time the medicine was taken and should consult a medical practitioner if concerned about their health particularly if pregnancy has continued despite treatment. These medicines may cause birth defects.

With use of the medicine Levonorgestrel –nausea and abdominal pain are common side effects. This medicine is not 100% effective and the effectiveness diminishes if vomiting occurs or if the medicine is not taken promptly.

Close medical supervision is required when the medicine Mifepristone is taken to terminate a pregnancy. Serious complications may occur such as infection or haemorrhage. It also commonly causes uterine contractions and may cause heavy vaginal bleeding. Nausea vomiting and diarrhoea are very common.

Would anyone want their daughter to go through that alone? And if there are a few totally cold, irresponsible people who wouldn't care, there are existing avenues of help.

The FDA is considering changing the law to allow over the counter sales, which Kristof is agitating for, but hasn't as yet, probably because of well-founded concerns by members of its advisory panel:

Few argue that Plan B is unsafe for adult women. But some of the panelists expressed concern that the drug had not been tested in enough teenage girls. And panel chairman Louis R. Cantilena Jr., MD, PhD, worried that tests of Plan B -- designed to mimic actual use of the drug -- did not reflect the way the drug would be used in real-life nonprescription situations.

"My concern [with the Plan B actual-use safety study] is that it doesn't accurately reflect what will likely be the most common setting for this product based on what we've heard," Cantilena said in the transcript. "So the actual use [study] was not as close to possible to what we think will actually happen with the drug." Cantilena voted with the minority to disallow nonprescription sales of Plan B.

Everyone needs some support. And that is why the existing law prohibits over the counter sales.