By Taimi Arvidson
The staff at University Health and Counseling Services (UHCS) has seen just about everything.
They’re accustomed to girls shifting nervously in chairs, preparing to ask for the emergency contraceptive known as Plan B.
However, after years of hearing “I think the condom broke,” the staff at UHCS and the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts may no longer need to entertain requests for what is generally referred to as the “morning-after pill.”
Pending the creation of regulations by the Department of Public Health, the pill, which decreases the risk of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, will not only be available at clinics like UHCS and Planned Parenthood, but on the shelves of the local pharmacy.
“You need to take it quickly; therefore being able to take it when you need it makes it a good thing,” said Dr. Roberta Berrien, executive director of the UHCS.
Plan B’s availability comes after the state legislature easily overrode Governor Mitt Romney’s veto of the bill “An Act Providing Timely Access to Emergency Contraception” last Thursday. The Senate voted down Romney’s veto 37 to zero while the House of Representatives tallied a 139 to 16 vote last week. Subsequently, the law will go into effect within 90 days.
In late July, Romney vetoed the bill, which would make the emergency contraceptive available regardless of age. Governor Romney cited many reasons for the veto, including his concern that the morning-after pill could prevent the implantation of the embryo, making it a form of abortion.
Another organization in support of emergency contraceptive’s availability is Planned Parenthood, which prior to the legislation provided clients in emergency situations the pill regardless of age.
“[Emergency contraception] would reduce the number of abortions, which should be a goal that everyone shares,” said Alyson Potts, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman.
Other groups are not as supportive of this bill. The Massachusetts Family Institute does not support it because there is no medical explanation of the effects it could have on a woman’s physical health and it undermines parental consent laws, said Evelyn Reilly, director of public safety for the Massachusetts Family Institute.
This is a major issue over which the supporters and opposition have historically disagreed.
Berrien maintains the oral contraceptive doesn’t cause harm.
“Taken appropriately, emergency contraception has been found to be safe without serious side effects,” Berrien said.
This past statistical safety is what Berrien refers to as the drug’s “safety profile.”
Over-the-counter availability opens the door, however, to unmonitored abuse of the pill.
“Teenagers are going to be stupid, regardless, and if [the pill] prevents abortions then it’s worth it. However, I definitely think it’s going to get abused,” said Jennifer Baquet, a freshman speech pathology and audiology major.
Now it is only a matter of how the DPH will integrate Plan B contraceptives in the next few months into pharmacies and emergency rooms without a prescription, Potts said. The DPH will most likely have to create a set of regulations by which pharmacists will provide the drug, as well as create a method for emergency rooms to provide it. The regulations could include establishing a system where medical professionals who do not support emergency contraception could decline administering the pill.
After last week’s decision, Berrien now expects fewer phone calls, but not a complete decline in requests for this pill. Although students will eventually be able to get emergency contraception from any pharmacy, she says they may want to talk to a doctor about their decision. Many pharmacies have the 24-hour convenience that is critical to the effectiveness of Plan B contraceptives but lack the privacy of a clinic.
“There are good reasons people go to their health care provider,” Berrien said.
Some women chose to start on a birth control pill after using Plan B, a service that the UHCS can provide but is not possible at a pharmacy without first visiting a physician, Berrien said. The UHCS’s services include birth control pills, the patch and diaphragm fittings.
According to Planned Parenthood, the cost of Plan B contraceptives varies from $8 to $35.
