Morning After Pill Being Handled In State Legislatures

Plan B Battles Embroil States
Proposals Mirror Red-Blue Divide

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A01

Filling a void left by the Food and Drug Administration's inability to decide whether to make the "morning-after" pill available without a prescription, nearly every state is or soon will be wrestling with legislation that would expand or restrict access to the drug.

More than 60 bills have been filed in state legislatures already this year, and that follows an already busy 2005 session on emergency contraception. The resulting tug of war is creating an availability map for the pill that looks increasingly similar to the map of "red states" and "blue states" in the past two presidential elections -- with increased access in the blue states and greater restrictions in the red ones.

Many of the state bills intended to expand access give specially trained pharmacists in states including Maryland, New York, Kentucky and Illinois the right to dispense emergency contraception without a prescription. Other bills require pharmacies to stock and distribute the drug, and to ensure that the pill is made available to women who come into emergency rooms after a sexual assault.

But some bills would make it more difficult for many women to get emergency contraception, which is effective for only 72 hours after a woman experiences a contraceptive failure or unprotected sex. Legislation in New Hampshire, for instance, would require parental notification before the drug is dispensed, and more than 20 other states will consider bills that give pharmacies the right not to stock the drug and pharmacists the right not to dispense it, even to women with valid prescriptions.

"The FDA made this a major issue for state legislatures," said Sharon Camp, president of the Guttmacher Institute, a women's health research organization. "For the first seven years Plan B was on the market, this largely didn't happen."

"Basically, every state now has an effort going to either make Plan B more easily available or to slow it down or make sure that pharmacists don't have to dispense if they oppose it," said Edward R. Martin, a lawyer and lobbyist with Americans United for Life, who has helped put together some of the proposed "conscience" clauses.

This is as it should be, as the entire abortion issue should be handled. Keep the courts out of this issue entirely. This issue, just like abortion is a matter of conscience, not judicial fiat. It would be unconscionable for the states or the courts to mandate that a pharmacist must sell the pill if it is against his beliefs. This is merely a question of freedom. The federal and state governments intrude excessively in our lives already. If you don't like the laws in your state, you have the right to move. That is the essence of freedom.

Full Story: Red States/Blue States Decide Pill Issue Independently

What do you think?

To leave your opinion click on the word "COMMENT(S)" below