PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, December 17, 2003

CONTACT:             Illinois Right to Life Committee
William Beckman, Executive Director, 312-422-9300

Claimed Benefits of the Morning-After Pill are Misleading

Yesterday, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel recommended approval of over-the-counter sales of Plan B, an emergency contraception drug, also known as the morning-after pill.  This irresponsible vote was 23-4 in favor of risking women’s health.  Misrepresentations abound, including exaggerated claims about effectiveness, safety, contraceptive action, potential reduction in unwanted pregnancies, and who benefits from such availability.

Claims that emergency contraception (EC) is 95% effective are contradicted even on web sites promoting use of EC.  The Feminist Women’s Health Center (FWHC) web site cites 75% effectiveness.

Plan B is claimed to be safe enough to allow over-the-counter sales when the FWHC web site warns women who experience any of five symptoms after taking EC to call their clinic immediately.  What clinic will they call when they obtained the drug over-the-counter?  The listed symptoms are: abdominal pains (severe), chest pain or shortness of breath, headaches (severe), eye problems, such as blurred vision, and severe leg or arm pain or numbness.  FWHC also warns that EC “does not protect against sexually transmitted infections.”

Dr. Stephen Spaulding identifies the following side effects of emergency contraception: nausea, vomiting, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and blood clot formation.  The FDA panel’s viewpoint that Plan B has “an acceptable margin of safety” is clearly in dispute.  Safety claims are based on a study of Plan B usage for nine months, but no studies have been done on either long-term health effects or impact on the health of teenage girls as they become adults.

Promoters of EC claim it is a contraceptive rather than an abortifacient.  To make this claim, they needed to move the beginning of life from fertilization to implantation.   This redefinition is biological heresy.

Barr Laboratories, soon to be owner of Plan B, claims that its use will reduce unintended pregnancies by 50%, leading to a substantial reduction in abortions.  IRLC predicts such reductions will not be achieved because Plan B availability over-the-counter will encourage an increase in casual sex, especially among teenagers. 

An expanding customer base and easy access to Plan B will be a great benefit to Barr Laboratories’ profit margin.   Barr can even seek new markets to respond to the negative health consequences that users of Plan B will suffer in the future.  The “benefit” to women from over-the-counter sales of Plan B will be new uncharted health risks, again making women the victims of dangerous drug side effects to support men’s sexual adventures.  FDA approval of over-the-counter sales of Plan B would be a grossly irresponsible action that places higher priority on casual sex ideology and profit for Barr Laboratories at the expense of women’s health.

William Beckman
Executive Director
Illinois Right to Life Committee
65 E. Wacker Place, Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60601
312-422-9300
www.illinoisrighttolife.org
beckman@illinoisrighttolife.org

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Illinois Right to Life Committee, founded in 1968, is the oldest Pro-Life educational organization in Illinois.