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Urgent! ******* Urgent! ******* Urgent!
Stop the Morning-After Pill! Over-the-Counter approval to be decided by the FDA May 21.
No age limits, no medical supervision, no parental involvement!
Spread this far and wide! Time is of the essense! Call the White House, contact your Senators and Congressmen!
From the Population Research Institute
Weekly Briefing:
Dear Colleague:
There is still time for pro-lifers to call the White House (202-456-1414) and urge the President to assure the American people that the mega dose "morning after pill" will not be sold "over the counter."
Also contact your U.S. Senator or Representative to urge leadership from Congress that will protect women and babies from this new chemical assault weapon.
Toll free: 1-800-648-3516 or 1-877-762-8762.
The abortion establishment is going all out to urge their followers to lobby in favor of making this chemical killer available over the counter.
Their mailings include the lie that so-called "emergency contraception" does not cause abortion and does not work if a women is already pregnant. Over the counter approval of the "morning after pill" will be a public health disaster.
Steven W. Mosher
President
Action item: Urge the FDA to not approve OTC/MAP:
Write:
FDA Commissioner
FDA, 5630 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857-0001
Re: Docket Number 01P-0075 "Switch Status of Emergency Contraceptive from Rx to OTC"
(1-888-463-6332)
Comments can be sent to FDA over the Internet
Attention: FDA Commissioner
========================
PRI Weekly Briefing
12 May 2004
Vol. 6 / No. 17
Stop the Morning-After Pill!
Press reports suggest that the FDA is teetering on the brink of approving the so-called morning-after pill. As past PRI Weekly Briefings have made clear, there are terrible risks in making this powerful drug available over-the-counter with no age restrictions or parental involvement.
€ The progestin-only hormonal contraceptive in Norplant is the same active ingredient as Plan B. Norplant is no longer available for use in the United States because it is so dangerous. Known risks include significant weight gain, ovarian cyst enlargement, gallbladder disease, high blood pressure and respiratory disorders.
€ Among teenagers, some of these common side effects could result in increased rates of bulimia, anorexia, or clinical depression. Also, an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy has been associated with use of Plan B-type emergency contraception.
€ Since the drug precludes parental involvement, it is likely that teenage girls who buy Plan B at the drugstore then experience abdominal pain may not confide in parents so that a physician could diagnose if a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy had occurred. Over-the-counter approval would mean that young people would be free to purchase and use (abuse) this powerful hormone without supervision or follow up.
€ The drug was approved for over-the-counter use on January 1 in Australia. Already there are reports in the Australian press of 13-year-old girls buying the pill several times a week to the alarm of local pharmacists who are not able to give proper counseling to these girls on the many risks involved. The Australian Medical Association is already questioning the wisdom of making this risky drug so easily available without restriction. (The West Australian, 4/4/04)
€ If over-the-counter availability of this drug is approved, we may also expect that rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among teens will skyrocket. Adolescents age 15-19 currently represent 46% of all cases of Chlamydia in the U.S. 1 in 4 sexually active teenagers contract an STD at some point. In Washington State and in Sweden, where emergency contraception has been made widely available, rates of STD infection are skyrocketing.
€ We can also expect an increase in the rates of sexual violence committed against adolescent girls. The easy availability of this drug over-the-counter will make it more difficult for teenage girls to resist
pressure to have sex, and will trivialize the act of rape.
€ Over-the-counter availability of the morning after pill will lead to an increase in the pregnancy rate among teenagers. Studies have shown that increased rates of pregnancy occur among teens with increased use of "emergency contraception." Another showed that teenagers whose pregnancies ended in induced abortion were more likely to have used the drug before conception, and that teens who use the drug were more willing to engage in "risk-taking" behavior.
Please take time to call the White House or, better yet, jot a note to your Senator or Congressman regarding the morning after pill. If it goes over-the-counter as scheduled on May 21, then anything goes. Lives will be compromised and families further undermined.
A sample letter follows:
April 29, 2004© 2004 Population Research Institute.
Dear Senator ____________ (or Congressman _____________):
I understand the FDA is set to decide whether or not the morning-after-pill (MAP) will go over-the-counter on 21 May 2004. I believe that pressure from you and your colleagues could stop this
dangerous drug from being made available to very young girls without medical supervision or parental knowledge.
Would you please advise the FDA to cease and desist? If MAP is approved, then it won’t be long before the FDA makes the birth control pill available over-the-counter. This will further compromise the sanctity of life and the integrity of the family.
Thank you.
(Signed)
Your name
Address
City, State. Zip
Phone
Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required.
_________
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to https://pop.org/donate.cfm. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated.
_________
The Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation."
PRI
P.O. Box 1559
Front Royal, VA 22630
USA
Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
Email: vince@pop.org
Media Contact: Vince Criste
(540) 622-5240, ext. 206
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