Morning After Pill: Adoptee Perspective
April 25, 2009 by Cherie Burbach
Filed under Women's Health
Not sure how I feel about this one. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the purchase of the “morning after” pill for over-the-counter distribution. That means anyone can get it – like someone under the age of eighteen. In the past, younger teens could still get it, but it had to be with a prescription and ID (so they had to go through a little bit more than just waltzing in a store to get it.)
The morning after pill, in case you’re unfamiliar, “prevents pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.” The manufacturer of the pill is supposed to change the labeling, so it won’t be available until that happens. But is this really a good idea?
As someone who is adopted, I can’t help thinking that perhaps my birth mother, who would have been scared and wondering what she should do when she found out she was pregnant, would have had the option to just take a pill to get rid of me. Is that right? When teens are so young and vulnerable as it is?
I recently met my birth mother and she admits being scared and confused when she found out she was pregnant. This even goes beyond the abortion debate, but I’m trying to picture an impulsive teen going into the pharmacy to get a pill to end a possible pregnancy. Shouldn’t we at least require that teen to talk to someone first?
What are your thoughts on this?
Image: sxc.hu.
The morning after pill is not an abortion pill.
It prevents implantation and is a viable alternative for contraceptive failure. Why should any young woman have to TALK to someone before taking it? What medieval world are you living in?
Educate yourself before writing on the morning after pill. It’s a higher dosage birth control pill, not RU486
No, a teen should not have to talk to someone before preventing what would likely be the biggest mistake of her life. Women know when they are not ready or do not desire children. Thankfully, we are no longer pawns to nature’s whims.
I’m with you on this one Cherie. Children are children and shouldn’t have access to such drugs. I have to show my ID just to purchase Sudafed, yet we think it’s ok to let children obtain this drug? It seems as though the pro-choice movement is so adamantly pro-choice that it doesn’t matter what the cost or the age of those involved, so long as their “rights” are given.