©Pregnancy bliss 2008

Emergency contraception in the United States

In the USA, in 2005, Steven Galson, acting director of the Food and Drug Administration's drugs division rejected the advise of the FDA advisory panel to make the Morning After Pill available without a prescription. In 2006, the so-called Plan B Emergency Contraception Pill got approval for over the counter sale without prescription to women over the age of 18. Younger women need a prescription.

There is slightly more choice of emergency contraception in the United States with a combined Progestin (Progestogen) and Estrogen pill also available to be taken for up to 5 days after having sex. It is slightly less effective.

 

Plan B

This is the name given to the emergency contraception pack available in the United States. It was first approved by the FDA in 1999. It contains two pills of the hormone Levonorgestrel (a progestin). These are to be taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex . The tablets are taken 12 hours apart.

 

Planned Parenthood is one of the leading providers of emergency contraception in the United States and over 1.2 million women used this service from the organization’s centers throughout the country in 2005.

 

How safe is the ‘Morning-after pill’?

The emergency contraceptive pill is safe for the baby should it fail and the woman becomes pregnant. There is no increased risk of birth defects. The pill does not prevent sexually transmitted infections.

 

Effectiveness of emergency contraception

There is no doubt as to the effectiveness of emergency contraception if used appropriately by the individual. However, what continues to trouble many public health experts is the fact that wider and easier availability of emergency contraception does not appear to be reducing unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.

 

In the united States, there were 1.21 million abortions in 2005, almost 20% of all pregnancies that year. While this is a modest decline compared to the previous years, a breakdown of the figures show that, among those in low income social groups, the rates continued to rise. The rate of  conception among the under-18s in England and Wales was reported to be almost static between 2004 and 2005 at just over 42,000 in each of those years. Most of these are unplanned. This followed a 3 year stint in which rates were falling steadily. In June 2008, the Department of Health in Britain released figures for the year 2007 showing that rates of terminations for all age groups except women in their 30’s had gone up yet again to a total of almost 200,000. For sexually active children aged under 14, rates of abortion had jumped an alarming 21%.  Almost a third of pregnancy terminations are  repeats.

 

All that is accompanied by even more worrying statistics of ever increasing levels of STIs among teenagers, a sure sign of continuing risky sexual behavior. The rate of genital herpes went up almost 16% between 2005 and 2006 for girls aged 16-19 years. There does appear to be a link between alcohol, drug use and risky sexual behavior in this age group.

 

Emergency contraception: The case for Education

The figures mentioned here, which are mirrored in many countries across the globe (to varying degrees), would tend to indicate that more efforts in educating our young people about matters of sexual health are required.

Next Section: Fibroids and Pregnancy

 

 

 

Plan B consists of two Levonorgestrel hormone pills. They are taken 12 hours apart. Effectiveness in preventing pregnancy approaches 90%