If Plan A Doesn't Work Try Plan B

Commentary by Cantice

Let’s not let the FDA’s approval of the over the counter “morning after” pill go undiscussed. We begin with the facts. The morning after pill or Plan B as the FDA calls it, is a progestin-only double-dose of a typical birth control pill that may work in any of several ways. Its mechanism is explained in plain terms by Jennell Paris in Birth Control for Christians. If taken before ovulation, the pills interrupt the maturation of the developing egg, preventing or delaying ovulation. If taken after ovulation the pill may immobilize sperm in thickened cervical fluid, slow the movement of the egg through the fallopian tube, or prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus (Paris 160). The drug’s OTC approval came after 60 agencies in 2001 petitioned the federal government to make the drug available over-the-counter (womenshealth.gov August 2006). Responding to the petition, the government called for more testing that when completed in 2003 named the drug safe and effective. The pill had been made available through prescription since 1999.

I am hardly surprised that the pill has made its way to OTC status. The government did its due diligence by raising the age of purchaser to 18 (the drug company proposed offering the drug to those age 16 and older). The FDA also added the restriction that the drug be administered by a licensed pharmacist. The pro-life community, within which I align myself, did its part to inform people of the ways that the pill may work to abort by preventing a zygote (a sperm-fertilized egg) from implanting.

These days, we can’t rely on institutions to make decisions that display the highest sense of morality, because morality must align itself with deity, and in this country we are unwilling as a society to do that. This event of Plan B being made available over the counter presents us an opportunity to rethink or establish for the first time our personal morality when it comes to contraception or family planning. Let me offer this warning to the single people reading, contraception is like sex, if you don’t conquer it before you marry, it creeps back up to haunt you after marriage.

As a society, we will continue to use technologies to take up the slack for what we are failing to do by our own wills. What I wish is that the public and private sectors would spend half as much time and money dealing with real issues, in this case our unbridled sexual urges and unmet relational needs. If we use technologies it should be within a temporary plan to strengthen ourselves and should one day be phased out or restricted in some cases. The gentlest advice I can give the reader is to first deal with the real issues as they are defined in your life. By what authority do you allow yourself to overstep restrictions on sex before marriage that are found in all three of the major world religions and all but a couple of smaller ones? When it comes to contraception, allow yourself to do serious research and give yourself time to digest and respond spiritually to the information you find. And if you are a Christian, you should care about precedents and scriptures in the Bible responding to issues of family planning or contraception. If you need to be guided in your search, send me an email. I live for this.

A RESPONSE TO PLAN B
By Wanda

I knew this was coming….Honestly, Cantice I don’t have a problem with the morning after pill being available to women over 18 years old. Unlike many others, I do not see it as an abortion pill, from my research I understand it to be an emergency form of birth control. I prefer not to delve into the science of the pill, because your explanation above gives a good description of its functionality. I believe the FDA will ultimately display a high level of responsibility when it comes to the distribution of the pill.

However, Christians should realize (although I consider myself a Christian) that most people are not interested in sexual purity, so why get involved in this conversation? I am not condoning reckless, careless, sexual practices by single or married people. And I believe that as a Christian your body is sacred and should not be abused through spiritual, sexual, or any other type of physical carelessness. But things do happen - even to the best of Christians. Being a mature Christian or a personal of high moral values never equates to sainthood.

Additionally, birth control in the general sense is a matter of personal conviction. I cringe at the notion that there are “biblical scholars” who would attempt to build a sound biblical/historical case against contraception. At best you build a limited opinion and mask it as sound biblical interpretation. As a biblical scholar in the making, I understand that scripture must provide practical life application even in the light of antiquated traditions and social settings. Nevertheless, we should never place scripture at the mercy of our own personal convictions.

I feel wholeheartedly that birth rates should be controlled. You and I live in the overpopulated Atlanta, Georgia just think if no one used contraception or only practiced the very tedious natural birth control methods- we would have to leave home 3 hours early just to travel 10 miles to work. But maybe that would encourage more space exploration? Who knows you Right to Lifers may be on to something.