In many countries in the world today, they still severely punish women who dare to commit this morally horrendous act.</p>
<p>Coincident or not, it appears to me that the more power the religious extremes in any country grab, the more severe punishment women will likely receive for this kind of “moral corruption.” So, what the people in Wisconsin try to vote into a law has some element of what these religious radicals in those countries do today. But those who favor this law may say: We are already nice enough to women by comparing to what those countries do to women. We do not stone the women who committed the crime to death. (But we do not punish the man who “walk away” either, just like those countries where the man who contributes to the other half of the crime is not equally punished.)</p>
<p>LasMa,
Are you a physician or scientist with expertise in the field? This is what an ob/gyn and UC Professor who has studied contraception since the 1960s has to say about selling bcps over the counter:</p>
<p>Bay, I’m not a physician or scientist, but the people at ACOG are. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Low-income women – especially those who don’t get regular medical care – may not know that they have something even so common as hypertension, much less a condition like dyslipidemisa. Interactions with other medications also has to be considered, as well which specific type of bcp is safe and effective when the woman has underlying medical conditions like migraine, lupus, or sickle cell disease. </p>
<p>I’m lucky enough to have OK insurance and pretty good health care, but I certainly wouldn’t feel qualified to determine which bcp is BOTH safe AND effective, given my personal combination of medical history, underlying conditions, and concomitant medications. Why would a woman who has neither a doctor nor insurance be qualified to stand in the aisle at Walgreen and make an informed decision for her own situation?</p>
<p>For the same reason she can stand in the aisle and buy tylenol, analgesics, alcohol and a candy bar when she might have an undiagnosed, underlying condition that could endanger her life when taken in combination with those things.</p>
<p>Your cited quote provided no evidence that taking bcps have any dangerous or fatal side effects for women with other medical conditions. To the contrary, it says there is a lack of information, and at worst, the other medications may make the bcps less effective. Please do not spread misinformation.</p>
<p>Bay, is there somewhere in the U.S. where they are currently considering making the pill an over the counter drug?</p>
<p>You keep arguing for this as if it is one of the current alternatives available to women. I can’t find any place where this is cited as being even being discussed, among medical providers, or the FDA, or anywhere.</p>
<p>Why do you keep bringing this up as the solution? It’s not an option.</p>
<p>No, as it happens, I have a serious problem with Big Pharma. My “agenda” is women’s health, which includes access to SAFE and EFFECTIVE contraception.</p>
<p>LasMa,
No otc medications are risk-free. Forcing women to see a doctor and submit to an unnecessary pelvic exam is a barrier to bcp use. Even if you think it is good practice to see a doctor annually, you have no right to force your medical values on others by linking bcps to doctor visits.</p>
<p>Bay, I don’t know why you keep talking about BCP’s going over the counter. They aren’t, so it’s irrelevant to anything. Maybe antibiotics should go over the counter so no one has to call their doctor to treat a UTI … but guess what, they aren’t. Can we keep the debate as to what is - BCP’s are currently prescription drugs? And for the life of me, I see ZERO distinction between a BCP and, say, an antibiotic for a UTI, and I cannot fathom what there is about BCP that somehow makes them different as a class of medication with respect to insurance coverage. The argument before that “no one died of an unintended pregnancy” simply isn’t true, and anyway, medication in this country isn’t just for death-prevention. No one ever died of a UTI, or of a migraine headache, or of seasonal allergies either, but that doesn’t mean that the prescription medications to treat those conditions shouldn’t be covered with insurance.</p>
<p>Bay, if I take tylenol for my headache and because of underlying medical conditions or drug interactions, it doesn’t work at maximum effectiveness – what’s the downside? Maybe I tough it out with a headache for the rest of the day, or maybe I lie down until it’s gone; worst case, I go to the ER (if I have insurance) and get a shot.</p>
<p>If I take a bcp and because of underlying medical conditions or drug interactions, I don’t know which is the best formulation (there’s not just ONE birth control pill. There are multiple formulations, and the doctor can tell me which is for ME). If I choose the wrong formulation and it doesn’t work at maximum effectiveness – what’s the downside? An unintended pregnancy. Which of course, changes my life forever and costs the taxpayers a whole lot of money. Or I can opt for an abortion, which is expensive and difficult for low-income women – that is, until the anti-choice forces succeed in overturning Roe, in which case I can get a dangerous illegal abortion or have the child which, for whatever reason, I never intended, which was why I was shopping at Walgreen for birth control in the first place.</p>
<p>Isn’t it better for everyone to just provide accessible, safe, effective birth control?</p>
<p>PG,
Since when is the fact that something isn’t currently legal a reason not to discuss why it should be? Especially when it is beneficial to women. Talk about settling for the status quo.</p>
<p>Nothing against women, but why does stuff always have to be women’s this and women’s that. Why can’t we do stuff for everyone, man or woman? I know that wouldn’t apply for contraception (have yet to find a man who can get pregnant), but I hear more health issues marketed to help women than I do for men or children. Why is that is anyone knows? (sorry for being off-topic) :)</p>
<p>LasMa,
If bcps are sold over the counter, NOTHING prevents a woman from going to her doctor anyway to talk about it if she has concerns. But why should perfectly healthy, informed women be saddled with an unneeded barrier to obtain bcps that are perfectly safe for the vast majority of users?</p>
<p>“I see ZERO distinction between a BCP and, say, an antibiotic for a UTI, and I cannot fathom what there is about BCP that somehow makes them different as a class of medication with respect to insurance coverage.”</p>
<p>The distinction is that one is a recommended preventive health service as recommended by U.S. Preventive Health Taskforce to the CDC. It is in the same “class” as immunizations from that perspective. Antibiotics to treat a UTI are not considered a preventive health service.</p>
<p>“Do their “values” require that Someone Else pay for their birth control pills, or only that birth control pills remain legal and easily available at any pharmacy?”</p>
<p>Someone else DOESN’T pay for them. They pay for them through their premiums, as they do for all other preventive health services. I don’t require childhood immunizations (anymore); I pay for them through my premiums.</p>
<p>So, yes, their "values’ require that preventive health services be covered. That’s what most Catholics seem to believe. That’s what priests, nuns, and heavy-hitting Catholics sitting on the boards of Catholic institutions believe (and voluntarily provide) as in keeping with their values.</p>