8.21.06

B Is Not For Baby

This post is dedicated to Brooke and to Allie, former and present Community Organizers at my old workplace, the Champaign County Health Care Consumers.

Brooke and Allie have given The Man a real scare by leading the Campaign for Access to Emergency Contraception, which advocates for over-the-counter approval of a drug regimen called Plan B, or the “Morning-After Pill”. While Plan B has been declared safe for non-prescription use by scores of doctors and scientists, and is already dispensed after a brief consultation with a pharmacist in seven states, the FDA is dodging the question on the national level.

Reasons for the delay include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Our country currently has a conservative, antifeminist moron at its helm, which has a trickle-down effect
• In a move that almost constitutes comic relief, a licensed veterinarian was actually appointed director of the Women’s Health Office of the FDA

Obviously, it’s been an uphill battle. I haven’t thought about it much since leaving Illinois, as I no longer have 2,000 condoms and a variety of leaflets encouraging me to back up my birth control sitting a few feet from my desk. However, I was reading the Onion the other day, and came across an article offering “arguments” against legalizing OTC Plan B sales. My personal favorite:

Presence of pill on convenience-store shelves will take up valuable Twix space

Voila! The Morning-After Pill is back on my radar screen, and now I’ve drawn you in as well. Click here to read more Onion-y goodness, here for basic information on Emergency Contraception from Planned Parenthood, and here to send an email to the FDA Commissioner via the NARAL Pro-Choice America website. If you have any clicks left in you, leave a comment about the rad-ness of Brooke, Allie, and all the other activists working hard to protect our reproductive rights.

1 Response So Far

1. 1

   Allison said,

   August 21, 2006 @ 7:14 am

   Damn… Brooke and Allie ARE super rad!

   + 20 Awesome Post Points

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