Emergency Contraception

The idea of Emergency Contraception is not a new to society, however it is still igniting many debates just as it did when it was first introduced to the United States. Emergency contraception continues to be a highly emotional and controversial issue, both for advocates who believe EC will lower the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions, and for opponents who believe that using EC amounts to an abortion. The controversy fueling this debate centers around one of the ways that emergency contraception works. Emergency contraception can prevent or delay ovulation, affect the movement of the egg or sperm: making them less likely to meet, it can also interfere with the fertilization process and prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. In March of 2009, a United States judge ordered the FDA to allow 17 year olds the ability to acquire the emergency contraceptive without a prescription. This overruled the 2006 ruling that anyone under the age of 18 was not permitted to receive Plan B without a prescription. Jessica Welbourn, who is an active intern at Naral Pro-Choice NY, said, "The passage of the new law reducing the age from 18 to 17 will reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and will reduce the number of unsafe abortions because minors who are afraid to ask for help from parents/doctors and don't have access to the pill will take termination into their own hands. This will prevent the situation from even getting to that stage and will avoid an abortion all together." (Anderson Orr, 2009). Though there is no solid evidence many suggest that by reducing the age to 17 they are exploiting young women and encouraging teens to have risky sex. The reality is that teens will continue to have sex; sex education is not the only way to prevent teen pregnancies, there must be contraceptive readily available to them without the fear that their family will find out. Many do not agree with the argument that this will help with unplanned

References: Anderson Orr, Anissa. (2009). Health Leader . University of Texas Health Science Center at Huston. Retrieved July 17, 2009, from http://www.healthleader.uthouston.edu/archive/Preventive_Health/2009/planb-0624.htm   CNN Health . (2009). CNN. Retrieved July 18, 2009, from http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/22/plan.b.age/ Dawn, Stacey M.Ed, LMHC. (2009). About.com . Retrieved July 18, 2009, from http://contraception.about.com/od/emergencycontraception/i/planbdebate.htm Galanos, Mike. (2009). CNN. CNN Health . Retrieved July 18, 2009, from http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/30/galanos.plan.b/index.html Garshofsky, Jenady. (2009). THe Peace Press . Retrieved July 17, 2009, from http://media.www.pacepress.org/media/storage/paper424/news/2009/04/08/Features/17YearOlds.Now.Have.A.Plan.B-3702433-page2.shtml