Posts Tagged: emergency contraception
Chubby Not Chastity: Guess What? I’m Fat and Want Plan B
During finals week this past April, I found myself slumped over a frequently dying PC, empty Starbucks double shots and a series of text messages about Plan B. My sole sexual partner at the time was trying to convince me that sex with condoms is lame and that au-naturale was the way to go. Now, of course the break from studying piqued my interest so I listened to his various arguments for why latex-less sex was what all the kids were doing. After a few misguided attempts to convince me, he offered up what I’m sure he saw as the winning argument: “how about I buy you Plan B afterwards.” There it was, the end all, be all of preventative methods. Except there was one flaw with this holy… Read more »
Overweight Women Stuck with the Hope and Pray Contraceptive
It was just earlier this year that the emergency contraceptive Plan-B One Step became available for sale without a prescription. Commonly referred to as ‘The Morning After Pill’, Plan-B serves as a very important tool in empowering young people in their own sexual discourse. And as someone who has used Plan-B myself, it allows the user to feel comfortable and assured in themselves. Imagine my surprise, however, when two weeks ago I read that Norlevo, the European equivalent of Plan-B, has been found ineffective in women over 176 lbs. To say that I was upset is an understatement. The American Plan-B pill is chemically identical to Norvelo meaning that the pill I, myself, have used may not have been effective. I may have just gotten extremely lucky. Which isn’t something you… Read more »
Health Care Reform: Moving onto the Next Barriers to Care
The Affordable Care Act is law of the land and that’s a good thing. More people who previously weren’t able to access health care due to financial restraints will now have an easier time doing so. Issues like lack of insurance and under insurance will be alleviated through implementation of The Affordable Care Act. We’ve come a long way baby, that is why I will Debbie Downer all over the celebration party by reminding us of how far we still have to go. Removing financial barriers to health care is a HUGE step to eliminating health disparities. Now we can begin to tackle the non financial barriers that impede access to care and sustains disparities. Some of the egregious, in no particular order: Plan B Plan B (emergency contraception) no… Read more »
The Birds and the Bees – and Plan B
By Callie Otto, Choice USA intern My 16 year-old brother got his first real girlfriend a few months ago. As the sex-obsessed one in the family, I’ve decided it’s my job to make sure he knows everything he needs to know about sex. Truthfully, I’d prefer it if my brother waited until he was 30. I don’t want to acknowledge my little brother as a sexual person, but on average, teens have sex for the first time by age 17. So chances are, now’s the time he’ll be needing my lectures the most. Yes, it’s going to be uncomfortable. And I talk about sex all the time, so I can’t even imagine how uncomfortable it would be for a normal person. We live in a society that tells young people that sex… Read more »
Emergency Contraception Should Be Accessible to All!
Another day, another trip to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions; when I enter there is a flurry of movement and excitement. Here birth control and emergency contraception or EC are just prescriptions easily obtained if necessary. But for young women all over the country, emergency contraception is a necessary medication, and many women don’t currently have access to it. The history of hormonal pills dates back as early as the 1920’s when using estrogen hormones was experimented on animals to control their procreation. This medicine wasn’t applied to humans until the 1960’s. These initial studies led to the creation of what we now know as birth control pills, and these are available in so many varieties there is virtually something for everyone. Morning after pills were being tested as… Read more »
Emergency Contraception in Public Schools and the concept of “Parental Rights”
Well, color me surprised. New York City has started expanding its contraceptive offerings (emergency contraception, birth control, condoms, pregnancy tests) in city schools. I was honestly ignorant to the fact that any high school provided these services to teens. I obviously think it’s a great thing but there are good points from both sides, so let’s talk about it! First we will get some figures out of the way, thanks to NYC Health Department: 7,000 girls under age 17 got pregnant last year in the city (Wow, that’s it?) 90% of those pregnancies were unplanned (I really hope the other 700 were well capable of taking care of another human being.) 64% were aborted (That’s 4480 preventable abortions) 2,200 became moms by age 17. About 70 percent drop out of… Read more »
