Morning After Pill

by Haussman, Melissa

• ISBN13: 9780275994662
• ISBN10: 027599466X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-12-31
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text

Summary

The struggle to get emergency contraception approved and to have it made available in the United States is in full swing. The morning-after-pill, sold commercially as Plan B, prevents the release of eggs and the implantation of a fertilized egg-it does not abort an implanted egg, let alone a fetus. It is made of the same ingredients as the perfectly legal birth control pill, but abortion opponents are fighting it tooth and nail. This is the first book to explain why this form of contraception is so controversial.At first glance, the controversy may seem perplexing. After all, Plan B is widely advertised today in women's magazines. Stalled in the FDA review process since 1998, it is only available in eight states without a prescription (or with a web-based advance prescription). The current controversy is often over whether to allow it to be available without a prescription. It is useless to rape victims if they have to go through waiting periods, search for doctors willing to prescribe it, and then find pharmacists willing to fill the prescription. Through interviews with the key players and thinkers in this debate, Haussman illuminates the contours of what is quickly becoming the newest frontier in American women's struggles to control their rights to reproductive autonomy.