In a uncommon case of override her own experts and the FDA — while ostensibly ignoring the high teen pregnancy rate of any industrialised country — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is disallow teenagers immature than 17 from purchase the dawn - after pill over the counter . That ’s patently wrong .
Right now , stripling who are 17 or older with proof of age can bribe the pill — also screw as Plan B — over the comeback . Teva Pharmaceuticals , which makes the drug , asked theFood and Drug Administrationto raise the age limit , and the FDA contrive to do so . FDA scientists found set aside young girls access to the drug would land more benefit than harm . But in what looks like a politically motivated determination , Sebelius wo n’t take the FDA ’s advice .
“ I think the decision to overrule the FDA is a spoilt one , ” Art Caplan , director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania , told me . “ I do n’t think its coherent with the skill and I surmise it ’s motivated by political science . ”
If taken within 72 hours after unprotected sexual activity , Plan B can prevent a fertilized orchis from implanting in the uterus . An honest-to-god argument that refuses to go say the pill and anything else that make sexual urge dependable will promote sleeping around in young girls . But there ’s no convincing evidence that the life - savingHPV vaccineor Plan B lead to more sex . European teenagersuse much more contraceptionthan teen in the United States . But both have sex about the same amount . The real difference?Americans have a pregnancy ratesix clock time higher and an abortion rate three times mellow .
After fall over the previous decennary , teenager gestation in the United Statesincreased again in 2005 . Though they lessen in 2009 , the United States has long had thehighest teenage maternity rateof all industrialized state . In 2009 , 39 out of 1,000 teen girlfriend got pregnant , while in the Netherlands the number was 4 , in Japan and Italy it was 5 , and in France it was 7 . The only countries that come close to the U.S. were Bulgaria and Turkey .
Young girls who find themselves significant have often been manipulated by an previous fellow , uncle , neighbor , etc . into experience sex . They ’re ashamed , scared , and need help , Caplan says .
A lot of girls are fail to feel uncomfortable verbalise with their parent . What we should do is rather than say you ca n’t have the anovulant over the counter is require an inset that first gives information on how to prevent unwanted gestation , and second facilitate youthful women find resources on how to bring this up with their parents or where to find a religious advocate or principle to talk to . Give them some help , do n’t take away the pill . The manufacturer should do that anyway .
Caplan also point outthat the abortion argument still lies at the heart of protests against Plan B. The tab prevent a fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterine rampart so it never becomes a foetus , scientifically making it not abortion . Nevertheless , during the Bush administration , some pharmacist refused to sell the drug and some hospitals still refuse to stock it . Never mind the fact that Plan B has repeatedly been examine good and surgical miscarriage can be , in compare , much more serious .
Reuters reportedthat Teva did n’t win over Sebelius that younger girls would understand how to utilise the pill without the help of a doctor . Does Sebelius earnestly believe young girls would n’t be able to grasp simple written instruction describing how to take a single pill ? We ’re not speak about a series of exactly timed loony toons here . It ’s one pill .
[ Reuters , Associated Press viaThe New York Times ]
Image : Shutterstock / Monkey Business Imaging
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