Kathleen Sebelius used her authority as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to overrule a Food and Drug Administration decision to make emergency contraceptives available over the counter to all women and girls. Sec. Sebelius wisely chose to keep the present rule in force which requires girls 16 and under to have a prescription before they could buy the drug.
Critics immediately cried that her decision was political, not scientific. Good call. Allowing junior high girls to buy Plan B One-Step, which is what the contraceptive pill is called, over the counter a few days before a presidential year begins would be flat dumb.
Ignoring science isn’t wise, either. Sec. Sebelius pointed out that the drug’s manufacturer had failed to study whether girls as young as 11 — and 10 percent of eleven-year-old girls are able to have children — could use Plan B safely. She based her overrule of the FDA on that scientific lapse.
As a seasoned political tactician who won two terms as governor as a Democrat in Republican Kansas, she was also keenly aware that taking the age limit off a contraceptive drug that was already the subject of condemnation by the Catholic Church and other anti-abortion activists would hand Republican conservatives another weapon to use in the 2012 elections.
THE SALE of Plan B has been debated between physicians and anti-abortionists for over a decade.
The pill had been available without a prescription to women over 18. In the Bush administration pressure grew to make it available over the counter. Authorities then agreed to lower the age to 17. But physicians continued to push for wider access, arguing that Plan B was far safer than pregnancy or abortion.
Plan B contains 1.5 milligrams of a synthetic version of the female hormone progesterone that is found in lower doses in daily contraceptive pills. It should be taken as soon as possible after sex since it gradually loses its effectiveness, which is why advocates have pushed for years to make it available on store shelves. The drug’s principle effect is to prevent ovulation, but it may also make the lining of the uterus less hospitable to a fertilized egg. Taking Plan B as advocated reduces the chances of pregnancy by half.
In a perfect world, Plan B would be an over-the-counter drug. It is safe and effective. It reduces unwanted pregnancies dramatically.
But putting it within easy reach of girls of all ages is seen by some as weakening the influence parents have on the sexual decisions their daughters make.
A hard look at the teen sex scene supports the contention that that battle has already been lost. As of now, half of all pregnancies are unplanned, more than 40 percent of children are born to unwed mothers and 1.2 million abortions are performed every year involving one in every 50 women of reproductive age. If Plan B, One Step pills would reduce the teen pregnancy rate, society would be ahead.
January, 2013, would be an appropriate time to restart the discussion.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
