Bitter Pill
Ohio doctors and pharmacists are looking out for you. Unless you need the morning-after pill. By Rebecca Meiser, Cleveland Scene At two in the morning on the fifth of July, I should be sleeping away this hangover. Instead I sit in a small room at St. Vincent Charity Hospital's Solon branch, dressed in a thin paper gown that makes me look and feel like a human napkin. My boyfriend/complicated other and I had a "condom malfunction." In the midst of my panic, I remembered a former sorority sister telling me how she had gotten a prescription for the morning-after pill when her contraception failed. My heartbeat steadied a little, and I tried to think about every article I'd read about the pill. It was Glamour, I believe, that said the sooner it's taken, the more effective it is. St. Vincent is the closest 24-hour place we know of. The doctor there sports graying hair, huge microscope-like glasses, and an expression as worn as his sneakers. He is not pleased about working the Fourth of July. "What can I do for you?" he asks, frowning. "I need a prescription for the morning-after pill." "Huh." He peers down at me sternly. His glasses slip down his nose. "We don't do that here. This is a Catholic hospital." "Oh." My heart descends all the way down to my pedicured toenails. "Well, do you know a place open now that does? Planned Parenthood is closed for the weekend, and I don't have a personal physician yet." "I don't do those type of referrals." "What should I do then?" Panic pushes against my eyes like a steamroller. "I don't know. You should have thought about that before." He leaves, the door slamming behind him.
Emergency contraception has existed since the early 1970s, when doctors began administering high doses of birth-control pills to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The practice wasn't approved by the Food and Drug Administration until 1997; within a year, Preven -- the first brand-name emergency contraceptive, or "morning-after pill" -- became available by prescription. Effective up to 72 hours after sex, the pill works primarily by preventing the release of eggs for fertilization. In some cases, it may also prevent an already fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. This, pro-lifers contend, is abortion. Pressure from doctors and women's groups has caused some states to enact legislation easing access to the pill. Six states permit pharmacists to dispense it without a prescription. Illinois requires every pharmacy to stock it. In Oregon, victims of sexual assault are offered the pill free. But in Ohio, among the reddest of red states where women's health issues are concerned, finding the pill can be harder than scoring crack in Pepper Pike. Read the rest of this in depth article by clicking here.
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