Religious-induced ignorance still trumps science when it comes to women

Last night on 60 Minutes, they re-ran their story on how Repubevangelical FDA advisory appointee David "sodomy is best when perfomed without consent" Hager helped prevent a decision to approve OTC availability of Barr's Plan B emergency contraceptive. Women, including rape victims, are still being denied access to Plan B with a valid prescription for no other reason than the fact the religious right continues to mislabel the drug, which prevents the ovulation necessary for conception to occur, as an abortifacient. There are three evide points that really need serious consideration when the self-appointed arbiters of morality unneccesarily make the inacurate claim that Plan B induces abortions:

• If ovulation does not occur, an egg can not be fertilized and pregnancy (even if you define it as conception instead of implantation) does not occur.
• There is no evidence or logical reason to believe, let alone assert, that the drug causes expulsion of an implanted embryo when pregnancy has been established.
• The claim that Plan B, in the case that ovulation and conception occur, prevents implantation into the endometrial lining has come about because chronic use of hormonal contraception can lead to thining of the endometrial lining which helps decrease the heaviness and/or duration of menses.
  
• Please note the operative words are "chronic use" and "can."
  
• All women using hormonal contraception on a regular basis do not have thiniing of the endometrial lining; quite a few do not and those who have gotten pregnant while using hormonal contraception do not necessarily suffer spontaneous abortion related to contraceptive use.
  
• Plan B is not a chronic use drug - it's a drug that will be used on relatively rare occasion.

We are past due the time when our Representatives finally take positive action to ensure that women have access to emergency contraception, especially those already traumatized by rape.

C/O NARAL Pro-Choice America

Improve health-care services for rape survivors

We need your help to make sure women who’ve been raped get the chance to prevent pregnancy. please contact your US Representative to make this a Federal requirement for hospitals receiving US funds.

Send a message to your members of Congress today to help pass the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act (“CARE”: S.1264/H.R.2928).

This bill would ensure that survivors of sexual assault are offered the “morning-after” pill in the emergency room. The morning-after pill, also known as emergency contraception or EC, prevents pregnancy after sex or sexual assault. Improved access to the morning-after pill could prevent 88 percent – approximately 22,000 – of pregnancies that occur as a result of rape.

For more information, please check out FP's post at Weekly Action Coalition.

Tags: health care; contraception; reproductive rights; fundamentalism; FDA; Plan B; rape

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