via cirkusprincesse @ flickr
In a nice reversal of policy under the Bush administration, the Pentagon announced that emergency contraception will now be available on military bases worldwide. I admit I was surprised to learn that this was a policy yet to be instituted, as Plan B and the generic Next Choice drug are fully legal. I wonder if the Pentagon’s approval of this, which was announced earlier this month following a November vote by the organization’s Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, is in part a tacit recognition of sexual assaults committed against women in the armed forces. While it’s fury-worthy that Bush & Co. felt it was just fine to prevent women from legal contraceptive measures, this reversal is a heartening step forward by the military’s powers that be.
It’s about fucking time.
I wonder if part of the reason this is happening now is that the current commander-in-chief is not in thrall to the Jesus-freak anti-abortion lobby the way the last one was?
Yup, that’s kind of what I’m thinking. Reproductive rights were not exactly Bush’s favorite cause, even when they pertained to his extremely beloved armed forces.
Next up for the military: rape prevention training for male soldiers. And no, boys, that doesn’t mean how to keep teh gayz away from you. Believe me, you’re not as hot as you think you are.
Yeah! indeed. About fucking time.
I don’t know if any of you Harpies read the Washington Post, but were all over Plan B last week. In a massively contradictory way. First the good news, in a piece in the section health on Thursday, they included in a “what should be in your family medicine cabinet”, article Plan B. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021605327.html. With no shaming commentary (sadly, they didn’t include condoms). This especially made me smile over my bran flakes, since the previous two days they had run some bizarre letters to the ed. about Plan B killing “tiny humans”. With no scientific rebuttal.
The peaceful inclusion of Plan B as part of basic health care (with neosporin and aspirin) made me feel the mainstream tide may have turned on that drug.
@Skiptomylou: I did see that! You got your Neosporin, your Vicks Vaporub and…Plan B. I really liked seeing it listed in a totally matter-of-fact way.
I’ve never taken Plan B but my friends who got pretty sick–vomiting and lots of nausea–and most doctors prescribed some kind of anti-spasmodic at the same time to help curb the upchucking. Maybe that’s something to ask for if we stock up? Anyone have any personal experience with that?
I’ve taken Plan B and I didn’t really feel any nasty side effects.
Great news.
I took the morning after pill about 15 years ago, before it was a single pill (or maybe it’s two now?). When I took it was 14 pills taken over two days or something appalling. It was like, or maybe it literally was, taking a week’s worth of birth control pills at once. The nausea arising from that was as to be expected.
Of course since I lived in Australia at the time, I just took my 15 year old self to a community health clinic where they gave it me for $2 without a prescription, or parental notification (and only a small dose of shaming). If they did have to call my parents, or I did have to visit a doctor to get the prescription, or it was expensive, I doubt I would have sought it out at all. These access laws do make a difference.
My extremely limited sexual experience has left me without any Plan B experience, but I know that, if a condom were to break again, I’d be all up in that stuff. @SkipToMyLou, thank you for that link!
I also wonder if, while Plan B was not available on the base, condoms and other prophylactics were.
Yes, Skip, that’s what I remember from my friends taking it in college (also about 15 years ago)–they basically got a pack of pills and took several of them. I remember a lot of holding back my friends’ hair and making late-night runs for ginger ale. But that was a while ago, and maybe SarahMC’s experience shows the pill that’s prescribed now is less nauseating.
Access was a real problem because we were at a public college where the state-funded student health center wouldn’t prescribe Plan B. Needless to say, many students who needed it didn’t have the cash or the nerve to go to a private doc in town.
…and I just realized that my above comment makes it seem like you have to have sex X number of times to require Plan B. Poor phrasing, apologies on that.
I’ve taken morning-after contraception a couple times, but it was either back in the late 90s before Plan B was widely available, or while in a foreign country where Plan B was outlawed. So I just looked up online how to use standard birth control pills as morning-after contraception (speaking of which, here’s a great list of emergency contraception dosages, for anyone who is interested). As Becky said, you’re taking *large* dosages of hormones. I’d get really nauseous for a couple days, not to mention super-emotional (think PMS * 10).
Coincidentally, a friend of mine just called me up the other day asking where and how to get hold of Plan B. She actually was able to get it at her local Walgreen’s without a prescription; this being bible-thumping Louisiana I was, frankly, surprised it was so accessible. Though it was more like $50, not $2, so not exactly cheap.
i’ve used plan b a handful of times over the past 6 years and the only side effects i’ve ever had was just my menstrual cycle getting thrown off by a few days.
Oh, and I forgot to mention – my friend who just took P lan B described getting *really* tired, emotional, and slightly nauseous. But it didn’t sound like the nausea and emotional roller coaster were quite as extreme as you get using the bc pills. So I’d recommend going that route if you’re ever in the position of needing it and have a choice.
I may be too jaded, but I saw this as a tacit recognition of the fact that pregnancy is costing them soldiers. Following past coverage (court martial for pregnancy?) I was shocked to learn it wasn’t universal on bases already.
Still, a positive step is a positive step.
@Brennan: I don’t think that sounds overly jaded–I suspect you’re probably right. That would certainly be a logical explanation.
@viajera: For the record, I’m pretty sure Plan B only became readily available in Louisiana within the past couple of years. A friend of mine needed to get it back around 2005 and had to get a prescription. (She was in a super small town, though. I don’t know how much of a difference that makes.)
Also, so cool to know there are other Harpies here in Louisiana!
I needed Plan B about 4 years ago, when I was living in Los Angeles. Although it was available over the counter, I had to go through 4 pharmacies before finding one that carried it. Still a MUCH better situation than not being able to get it at all, of course. I went through some nausea and exhaustion, a bit like what viajera describes above. But definitely nothing I couldn’t put up with. The pack included two pills, with the admonition that if you puked too soon after taking one then you really ought to go back to the pharmacy to get more, since you probably puked up your dosage. So I think there are def still some people who vomit after taking it.
@Brennan: Cost combined with a new administration and worry about possible bad publicity are the factors I’d guess went into it. Now let’s make sure that women in the service have access to abortion and that their medical insurance covers it.
*Delurk*
I took Plan B a couple of years ago, and I felt as usual afterwards. I even started worrying they had just been placebo..! Things worked out in the end though, thanks to or despite Plan B.
Hope that helps.
*Relurk*
I’ve never taken Plan B, but two of my friends have, and they said they had no side effects like nausea. I guess we can all agree that nausea is a side effect that is sometimes preferable to 50-pound weight gain and 18+ years of heightened responsibility.
This is fantastic about Plan B in the military. Like many who already posted, I hope it is quickly followed by some improved policies to protect women from sexual assault, to encourage reporting, and to punish offenders. Maybe that’s a tall order.