Once again, Canada is making records for The Most Liberal Practice in the World. The morning-after pill or Plan B, a chemical concoction meant to “prevent pregnancy” after a failed condom or unexpected sex could be available without any consultation. (All the sophists assure us that’s what it does–prevent pregnancy. Because it prevents implantation, which marks the real moment at which life begins, so they say.) Pharmacists are concerned, “women’s rights advocates” hail the victory. Are there no female pharmacists? I’m sure there must be some, somewhere.

In practice, perhaps the new rules are not that different from the current situation: After all, especially if you live in a big city, it’s not as though you couldn’t get this drug from any pharmacy, no questions, no consultations. But in theory, this would mean once again, women are left alone. No counselling necessary (how offensive). It also puts Plan B in the same league as picking up tylenol.

I can assure you that teens won’t hesitate to use this drug multiple times, whether or not they even have a remote chance of truly being pregnant. Even if the chance of pregnancy is slim to none, it’s better to be 100 per cent sure, right? So just take the drug. (Neurotic anxiety and I, we are fast friends. I don’t mean to show off, but I can really relate.) But from Abby Lippman, of the Canadian Women’s Health Network, this:

I would just as soon that it be sold anywhere…

With friends like that, women don’t need enemies.

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Brigitte admits she doesn’t know much about this drug, but wonders anyway: Do we have any idea what the long-term effect of taking this sort of stuff (more than once, I mean) can have on a young woman’s fertility? Are there studies? What do they say?

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Tanya adds:

Since birth control pills require a prescription and a doctor’s supervision during use, how can the FDA or the drug manufacturer condone providing Plan B (a mega-dose of the same drugs) over-the-counter? Widespread access to Plan B would expose women to the health risks that heretofore were acknowledged by doctors who screened women before prescribing birth control pills and then monitored them for the wide variety of contra-indicators for their use. Some of the health risks associated with birth control pills — life-threatening ectopic pregnancies, for instance — are a clear danger for some women with Plan B, too. Also, some physicians are concerned about the long-term effects of high-dosage birth control pills (Plan B) and others worry about their effect on adolescents and the fact that there are no constraints that would prevent repeated use of Plan B for “emergency contraception.” (http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11365/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm)

Reprise to the long list of possible side-effects they list on the back-side of ads for the pill in Glamour:  venous and arterial thrombotic and thromboembolic events (such as myocardial infraction. thromboembolism, and stroke), hepatic neoplasia, gallbladder disease, ocular lesions, glucose intolerance, pulmonary embolism, cerebral hemorrhage, migraine headache, nausea, vomitting, spotting, amenorrhea,  fluid retention, emotional disorders (including severe depression) and hypertension… The effects of long-term use of oral contraceptives remain to be determined… Etc., etc., etc.