Federal officials uphold age limit for Plan B contraceptive

It was a triumphant moment for women's health advocates on Dec. 14 when the FDA recommended the morning-after pill, Plan B One-Step, be sold over the counter without age restriction.

It didn't last long. Later that day, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overturned the Federal Drug Administration's decision and reinstated the rule that Plan B purchasers must be 17 or older or have a prescription. The decision over the controversial medicine — which, when taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex, reduces the chance of pregnancy by inhibiting an egg's implantation in the uterus — has sparked debate across the nation, including among students and faculty at this university.

Although the FDA's panel of experts unanimously decided the pill was safe enough for teenagers to take, Sebelius said not enough data was presented to support making Plan B over the counter.

For the past year, the University Health Center has provided Plan B One-Step available for purchase during regular business hours, as long as students bring proof of their age and their student ID.

The University Health Center representatives did not return calls for comment.

While this decision will not greatly affect students at this university, as most students are above the age of 17, they still have to go through another person to purchase the emergency contraceptive — something many students said would make people think twice about buying it.

"A lot of people say they are embarrassed, and feel belittled or felt like they were jumping through 100 hoops because a pharmacist was hesitant to give it to them," junior neurophysiology major Deepanjali Jain said. "It's an emotionally taxing experience to do the responsible thing to buy Plan B, and then have the pharmacist be rude or say something in a judgmental way when giving it to you can really affect you."

However, other students agreed with the decision, arguing that this medicine should not be available to adolescents.

"I'd rather it be behind the counter," junior economics major Jackelin Hernandez said. "If it's on the shelf, little kids can have access to it, and I don't think that's good — it's saying it's OK for them to have open sex. If they want to take it, their parents should have to know they are taking it if they are underage."

This mentality is exactly what public health professor Robin Sawyer disagrees with.

"The FDA says it's a safe drug to put over counter, and that should be it, end of story," he said. "But to intercede and have it not put over the counter because 11-year-olds won't know how to use it is just ridiculous. Does that mean we will take Motrin and Advil off the shelf? The side effects of those are far worse than morning after pill."

Sawyer said this issue is fundamentally controversial because it deals with sex.

"As soon as you mention that magic three-letter word, the whole culture freaks out," he said. "This is a prime example of that. Would we rather have more unintended pregnancies, than have teenagers having abortions?"

romas@umdbk.com