FOLLOWING what has become a general trend,last week the powers that be brought America closer to complete irresponsibility and sexual anarchy. The Food and Drug Administration decided to allow Plan B, the emergency contraceptive manufactured by Barr Pharmaceuticals, to be sold without a prescription. Thankfully, two stipulations exist to procure Plan B. Purchasers must be over the age of 18, and to this end, pharmacists must sell Plan B behind the pharmaceutical counter to ensure that IDs are properly checked. By removing the "inconvenience" of a doctor's prescription, however, greater harm is done by further mitigating consequences and promoting irresponsible behavior.
The social stigma associated with uncommitted sex has largely been erased in our country. "Do what you want in the privacy of your own bedroom, dorm room or hotel room," we've come to say, "but let those who engage in irresponsible behavior deal with the consequences of their actions." Engaging in sexual activity at any place, with any person, and at any age is not a human right and should not be excused or justified. Easing the regulations on Plan B is just one more way for people indulging in casual or unprotected sex to escape the consequences of their actions.
While I don't intend this to be a column on the virtues of abstinence, if American female consumers are so eager to prevent pregnancy, they should not have sex in the first place. Those who do not use EC to prevent pregnancy might, in the case that they do become pregnant, later get an abortion. This too is an unacceptable alternative. Biologically, the result of unprotected and irresponsible sex is commonly pregnancy or disease, but in the name of reproductive rights, many women avoid letting the consequences of their actions come to term in the form of pregnancy, unwilling to deal with their irresponsibility.
Many will point to victims of rape and incest as those who could benefit immensely from Plan B being made readily available. As usual, though, this is a red herring argument intended to distract from the real issue: that Plan B will be used in many cases resulting from blatantly irresponsible behavior. By holding victims of rape and incest over the American conscience, countless thousands of other women are given a shoo-in, leaving very little in the way of consequences for a careless lifestyle.
Furthermore, if women's groups really were so concerned with the health and reproductive rights of a rape victim, they would insist on a physical examination by a licensed doctor. Not requiring a doctor's examination, even if it is an unforeseen or unintended consequence, is one major misstep in making Plan B available over the counter to persons 18 or older. But then of course, this isn't really about rape victims. Plan B manufacturers advertise its product in two widely read and popular magazines, Cosmopolitan and Lucky. Surely, reducing regulation of Plan B is not intended to ensure that rape victims have easier access to contraception.
Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women said last week in response to what women's groups are calling a partial victory for reproductive health, "Emergency. Contraception. What part of EC don't they understand? EC should be available to all women, without interference or barriers imposed by a church or the state." Yes, of course, those nasty, vile, discriminate Republicans insist on throwing around their political power because they hate women and their reproductive rights. This sentiment is stupid, utterly stupid. Gandy and NOW believe that all women, with no age restriction, should have immediate, unrestricted and unregulated access to Plan B. This devalues the importance of women's health and advocates an easy and reckless lifestyle that in the end leaves many women unhappy.
Further, NOW's goal to make Plan B available regardless of age is absurd. In most public schools, twelve
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