FDA Considers OTC Status For Emergency Contraception
Synopsis: NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts co-signs brief submitted to the FDA in support of over-the-counter status for emergency contraception.
Statement of Melissa Kogut, Executive Director
12/15/2003: NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts is pleased to be a co-signer of a brief submitted to the FDA Advisory Committee on Reproductive Health in support of over-the-counter status for emergency contraception Plan B®.
Increasing women’s access to emergency contraception (EC), a concentrated dosage of ordinary birth control pills, is one of the most promising avenues for reducing unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion. When taken within 3-5 days of unprotected sex, EC can reduce a woman’s chance of becoming pregnant by up to 89%. EC, also known as the “morning after pill,” does not cause an abortion and will not harm an established pregnancy.
Unfortunately, many women in Massachusetts face difficulties in obtaining EC in a timely manner. Currently, EC is available only by a doctor’s prescription. For women who lack a primary care physician or those living in rural areas, reaching a physician can be difficult or impossible. According to a 2002 study by the Mass NARAL Foundation, fifty-one percent of Massachusetts hospital emergency departments failed to make EC available to women who called seeking the medication; and forty-five percent of community health centers failed to make EC available or told callers they had to be patients of the health center to obtain EC.
Plan B® is suitable for over-the-counter status; it is safe, effective and easily administered. Most important, this would eliminate one major barrier to timely access.
We are proud to be a leader of efforts to increase access to EC in Massachusetts – including legislation that will allow pharmacists to directly dispense EC through a collaborative agreement with a physician and will require hospital emergency rooms to make EC available to women who have been raped.
For a copy of the brief submitted to the FDA, please call 617-556-8800.
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