ossobuco wrote:As I remember implantation can occur even after two days (haven't looked that up lately).
A woman or girl who has unplanned/unprotected sex, rape or not, if it is around ovulation time she may be facing serious life changing consequences. Not everyone is unstupid all the time - and rape and followup pregnancy do happen. Preventing implantation is different to some than abortion of a fetus.
I speak from a fully prochoice point of view, but understand that others may have different lines to draw than I might have.
Unstupid...he he he...sorry.
Ok, so perhaps it might be helpful in some cases. But why not push to make regular birth control otc? Wouldn't that make more sense?
I am not sure if I am for those over the counter or not, probably not, as an unknowledgeable young girl (admittedly with some dollars in her wallet to pay for them) might take too many given a whole month package with no doctor advising - maybe with pharmacist discussion. I still want emergency contraceptives available otc.
Not that I am trying to get y'all to agree with me. I posted primarily to clear up the matter that birth control pills aren't "making abortion", abortifacient.
As with birth control pills the primary way Plan B works is to prevent ovulation. If unprotected sex occurs within 3 or 4 days of ovulation there are still viable sperm to fertilize an egg. Preventing the egg from being released is the main idea. Plan B 'might' help in preventing an available egg from being fertilized and 'might' help a fertilized egg from implanting. The best efficacy is related to those few days before ovulation. It's not a great method of birth control (89% efficacy) and is only intended as a backup plan when other forms of bc fail such as a broken condom or in preventing most pregnancies that result from assault.
I'm thinking behind the counter with pharmacist instructions is better than open OTC, but I don't see the need for a prescription if its safe.
To clarify the timing of what I meant above, sperm stays viable for up to 5 days in utero. Plan B works best in those cases where ovulation occurs after unprotected sex and will prevent the release of the egg until at least such time as no viable sperm remain.
That all makes sense, thanks, J_B.
