What Plan B is, and what it is not

After numerous threads and posts of late about Plan B One-step, I'd like to take a moment to point out what it actually is, and to call out the lies, deceit, and untruths about it.

What Plan-B is:
Plan B is a pill, also known as the morning after pill, used as emergency contraception. It consists of Levonorgestrel.

The primary mechanism of action of levonorgestrel as a progestogen-only emergency contraceptive pill is to prevent fertilization by inhibition of ovulation.[3][4][5][6] The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) has issued a statement that: "review of the evidence suggests that LNG [levonorgestreol] ECPs cannot prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. Language on implantation should not be included in LNG ECP product labeling."[7][8] In June 2012, a New York Times editorial called on the FDA to remove from the label the unsupported suggestion that levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive pills inhibit implantation.[9]

en.wikipedia.org...

in short, it works only before an egg is fertilized by inhibiting the fertilization.

This means, by definition, it IS NOT an abortion pill. It causes no more of an abortion than a woman's normal menstruation.

Attempts to tie it to abortion are nothing but rhetoric, and an attempt to play on emotion.

Hope this helps clear things up for the disappointingly many folks on this board that continue to refer to it as an abortion pill, or attempt to link it to abortion in any way.

reply to post by captaintyinknots
I think that most people understand that it is not an "abortion" pill. I believe the concern is more about young girls using it without parental knowledge and the complications that could arise without supervision. For instance, it is intended to be used as "emergency" contraception, but there are lots of teen girls who have an "emergency" several times per month- so what are the possible long term effects of using the medicine too frequently? Before you put forth that it is too expensive I would point out that a lot of kids these days have entirely too much money or can get their hands on it more easily than kids could when I was a teenager. Also I have heard it causes too much discomfort for any girl to want to use it regularly, but having sat many times over the years in my former OB/GYN's office (who was also an abortion doctor) there are already girls who use abortion as their "emergency birth control" and I'm sure that is much more uncomfortable than the morning after pill. So what are the medical implications of over-use of the morning after pill by young girls?

reply to post by littled16


This is the problem as I see it:

Parents should be having this conversation with their teen. This abstinence only bs that is subscribed to in the bible belt is not reality. The reason there is a problem is because kids can't talk to their parents or the parents are inattentive.

There is no reason for a teen that has a boyfriend to not be on the pill. This is the parents fault. The highest incidence of teen pregnancy is in the "abstinence" states.

I could go on and on. I just don't feel like it tonight.

on edit: The girls, whose parents refuse to take responsibility, should have access to education somewhere. In this state the kids are mandated to have Health in the 9th grade. And it is a great class. At least the one I had exposure to.

Originally posted by littled16
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

I think that most people understand that it is not an "abortion" pill. I believe the concern is more about young girls using it without parental knowledge and the complications that could arise without supervision. For instance, it is intended to be used as "emergency" contraception, but there are lots of teen girls who have an "emergency" several times per month- so what are the possible long term effects of using the medicine too frequently? Before you put forth that it is too expensive I would point out that a lot of kids these days have entirely too much money or can get their hands on it more easily than kids could when I was a teenager. Also I have heard it causes too much discomfort for any girl to want to use it regularly, but having sat many times over the years in my former OB/GYN's office (who was also an abortion doctor) there are already girls who use abortion as their "emergency birth control" and I'm sure that is much more uncomfortable than the morning after pill. So what are the medical implications of over-use of the morning after pill by young girls?

I dont agree at all. I have seen dozens of people on here flat out call it an abortion pill, and even more try to loosely connect it to abortion.

People are free to make whatever opinion they want on the subject, but to compare it, in any way, to an abortion is flat out incorrect.

As for the data that you ask for, I have yet to see evidence of ANY long term side effects. None.

reply to post by GrantedBail
Oh I definitely agree with you! I put both of my girls on the pill as soon as they became active, and made them take it in front of me every morning. I am a Christian, but teaching abstinence is redundant when a teen's hormones are raging. Faith can be a most wonderful thing, but pulling the wool over your own eyes in the name of religion where your kids are concerned is ignorant!

reply to post by captaintyinknots
Thanks for your reply! I was hoping that maybe while researching for your thread that maybe you had found some info about the long term effects as I have not been able to find any other than in Europe it seems to have a pretty good safety record, but nothing about girls who may use it too frequently.

reply to post by littled16


Thank you for that.

See it is the kid who isn't being looked after that will turn to the morning after pill, and may just use that as a form of birth control. I know that kids can get them at planned parenthood.

You are right, we don't know what the long-term effects will be on the reproductive system of a teen. That is why I think it is a community issue. Someone has to educate those girls whose parents refuse to.