Remember way back when, I blogged a suggestion about a Plan B compromise? I said fine, if people are worried that minors will get their hands on it, at least make it available over the counter to adult women. I wondered why millions of women 18 and older were being denied access to a safe alternative to abortion or unwanted pregnancies just because people wanted to make the minimum age 16 instead of 18.
Someone, somewhere, was listening.
AP reports that "The government is considering allowing over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to women 18 and older – a surprise move Monday that revives efforts to widen access to the emergency contraceptive almost a year after it was thought doomed."
I wasn't sure anyone was listening, especially since one concerned father told me that I "wanted" to give his daughters Plan B even though they can't even have an Advil without going through the school nurse. He was – rightfully – disgusted that someone would want to give his daughters drugs that could hurt them (I forget what medical condition they had, but they had something).
Let me state for the record that I don't want to give your under-18 children anything, other than access to factual information about sex in hopes that will help them make safer, smarter choices about their bodies and relationships. Supporting a move to make emergency contraception available without a prescription to adults is not the same thing as wanting your child to saunter into a drugstore and waltz out with serious medication without supervision.
If your teen is pregnant and deathly afraid to come to you, especially if that fear is reasonable in light of the fact that you would indeed disown her or beat her up or respond in some other emotionally or physically abusive way, I'd still rather she go to Planned Parenthood or an emergency clinic and discuss her medical conditions, history, etc. with a health professional than take matters into her own hands. But that's another topic. And I doubt anyone who reads Wired News is that kind of parent anyway. :)
I figure if we start with the 18 and up crowd, that's great progress. The conversation about whether OTC emergency contraception should be available to 16 and 17 year olds can continue while adult women – whether 18, 25, or 39 – can get what they need, whether their doctor is on vacation or away for the weekend or in the office. It chaps my hide to think that I, at 35, would have to struggle to get a morning-after pill on a weekend, just because we're still arguing about teenagers.
