Finally, Plan B -- or emergency contraception -- is available in the USA without a prescription! Some stores have it already, others are waiting for it to arrive.
Emergency contraception is already available over the counter in more than 40 countries! Probably those are some of the 60 odd countries that have lots more women in the national legislature than we do here in the backwards USA.
You'll have to show your ID to the pharmacist, and you'll have to be 18 or older to purchase Plan B without a prescription.
You can be sure that some stores will have self-appointed morality agents who will strive to make your access to Plan B difficult.
In Johnson City, Tennessee, Joe Knisley -- pharmacist at West Towne Pharmacy on West Market Street -- says he won't be carrying the drug:
"I'm just morally opposed to it. I feel strongly about the sanctity of human life, and I think this is diametrically opposed to that. I just don't feel comfortable in stocking a medicine when I know what it's going to be used for. Therefore we will not carry it."
And I won't be buying my headache medicine nor anything else at West Towne Pharmacy.
As long as the national chains stock the drug, anti-birth-control pharmacists like Joe Knisley shouldn't be much of a problem.
But Joe may have a brother at your local CVS or Walgreens.
Please click on the Pro Choice America link in the sidebar and send a letter requesting that the national chains require all their stores to stock Plan B!
Plan B® is an emergency contraceptive that can still prevent a pregnancy after contraceptive failure or unprotected sex.
Plan B® should be taken within 3 days (72 hours) of unprotected sex and can reduce the risk of pregnancy by 89%. But the sooner you take it the more effective it will be.
Plan B® is not RU-486 (the abortion pill); it will not work if you are already pregnant.
Via the Plan B Consumer page
For more info, see Planned Parenthood.
Plan B Politics News Birth Control Johnson City Tennessee Emergency Contraception Reproductive Rights Gender United States
