There are many things that make me glad to be a University of Cincinnati student. Knowing students have access to affordable emergency contraception and accurate information is one of them. The flip side of that is how bothered I am that not everyone has this kind of access.
Emergency contraception, or "the morning after pill," is a way to prevent pregnancy after vaginal unprotected intercourse or when primary birth control failed. Emergency contraception can prevent pregnancy up to five days after unprotected intercourse, but is most effective when taken within 72 hours.
Plan B, the most recognized pill, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for over-the-counter sale to women 18 and older in August 2006. When taken properly, this pill reduces the risk of pregnancy by 75 to 89 percent.
The media has been reporting for years about some pharmacists' refusal to dispense emergency contraception and some pharmacies' refusal to stock it.
As early as1998, the American Pharmacists Association adopted a policy that sought to balance individual pharmacists' personal beliefs about dispensing birth control medicines with the public's right to access legally prescribed medicines. It supported establishing systems that ensured patient access.
A lot of the controversy for both pharmacists and public opinion seems to stem from the mischaracterization of emergency contraception as an abortifacient. Emergency contraception prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation or fertilization and contains hormones found in birth control pills.
Despite this, many still try to mislabel emergency contraception as "the abortion pill." According to Planned Parenthood, the closest thing to an "abortion pill" is medication abortion, which involves doses of two different, non-birth control medications.
A recent study conducted by Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio provides a window into how this controversy may affect our area.
Between April 2006 and January 2007, volunteers contacted all available pharmacies in 13 counties in southwestern Ohio. They asked the pharmacist on duty at each pharmacy about the availability and cost of Plan B and whether it is "the abortion pill."
Of those asked, 49 percent of pharmacies were able to immediately dispense Plan B, and an additional 13 percent reported they'd be able to dispense it at a later time.
Of the major chains in the area, four-out-of-five Target, Walgreens and Wal-Mart stores and three-out-of-four Kroger's and CVS locations had Plan B available. Only 41 percent of Kmart locations and 34 percent of independent pharmacies had it.
While limited access is problematic, what worries me more is pharmacists giving out medically inaccurate information.
When asked if Plan B was "the abortion pill," only 60 percent of pharmacists surveyed answered correctly that it wasn't. Fewer than half of the pharmacists at Meijer and Wal-Mart locations answered correctly.
Even at the most accurate chains, CVS and Kmart, only three-fourths of the pharmacists answered correctly.
UC students have it better than people living in communities where there are only one or two pharmacies that may or may not stock emergency contraception.
University Health Services' pharmacy sells Plan B for $25. This is less than the southwestern Ohio average of $39.99.
That access makes me glad to be a UC student. However, the results of the study make me troubled. Pharmacists do their clients and their profession a disservice when they don't provide legally accessible medicines and/or medically accurate information. Something needs to be changed.
Riled up about emergency contraception?
Let Rebecca know at
lehmanrl@ucmail.uc.edu
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