Activists Break the Law in Support of the Morning-After Pill A Crime of Compassion by Jennifer Block February 15th, 2004 8:45 PM
NEW YORK CITY?Five feminists committed a crime in broad daylight this afternoon before some 100 cheering accomplices at Rockefeller Plaza, and they blamed the Food and Drug Administration for making them do it. The offense? Giving a friend the emergency contraceptive known as the "morning-after pill," which is still only available by prescription. It remains off-limits without a doctor?s note despite 20 years of scientific data showing it to be "safer than aspirin," according to activists.
"Women should not have to rely on luck to control their reproductive lives," declared Erin Mahoney, one of the chief conspirators of the post-Valentine's Day action and co-chair of the NOW-NYS (National Organization for Women) Reproductive Rights Task Force. Mahoney then raised a pill in her fist, demanded that the drug be available over-the-counter, and handed it (illegally) to the next speaker.
"We're just making public what women already do," said Alexandra Leader, another organizer and chair of the feminist group Redstockings Allies and Veterans, in an interview prior to the action. Mahoney, Leader, and a dozen others spoke out to the crowd of women and men about doctors refusing to prescribe it, pharmacists refusing to carry the drug, and the ordeal of getting a quick appointment at Planned Parenthood just to obtain a prescription.
Stephanie Morin, a law student and member of the task force, recalled an ex-boyfriend's "annoying habit" of "losing the condom" during sex and being deemed irresponsible when appealing to the campus infirmary. Beyond simply demoralizing women, such obstacles mitigate the effectiveness of the drug, which works best in preventing an egg's fertilization and implantation within 24 hours of intercourse.
More than 400 other women around the country joined the conspiracy, said organizers, signing a pledge to "give a friend the morning-after pill on February 15?or any day they need it," and Dr. Linda W. Prine was on hand at the New York rally to aid and abet. She wrote out prescriptions?with twelve refills?to anyone who asked, including this reporter. "I also provide abortions," said the local family practitioner, "so I know what women go through when they have an unplanned pregnancy. I'm here because I want to prevent that in any way I can."
The "MAP Conspiracy" pledge was delivered last week to FDA commissioner Mark McClellan, who had been due to grant or deny over-the-counter status to "Plan B," manufactured by Barr Laboratories, by February 20 but announced on Friday that he was delaying the decision for 90 days. The pill, not to be confused with the home-abortion drug RU-486, is essentially a megadose of the same hormones contained in ordinary birth-control pills, but is much safer, with nausea as the only common side effect. It?s stocked on drugstore shelves in 38 countries, including Canada.
On December 16, 2003, two separate FDA advisory committees recommended that Plan B make the leap to being over-the-counter; they are supported by the editorial pages of some 60 newspapers, 76 members of congress, and more than 70 feminist groups and health organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. "How often do you get organized medicine saying 'You shouldn't have to come to us to get this drug,'" said Richard Gottfried, chair of the New York State Assembly Health Committee, at today's rally.
The committee has sponsored a bill that would make MAP over-the-counter in New York, but it has yet to survive the state Senate. Also supporting the action was Democratic congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who relayed through a spokesperson: "It seems that the FDA has thrown the cold, hard, scientific facts out the window to bow to political pressure. They've injected ideology into a scientific matter, and it's going to hurt women's health in the long run."
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Article published Feb 16, 2004 Local activists urging pill be sold over the counter
When Stephanie Seguin lived in France, she said, she was surprised to see government officials enter a bar late one night and hand out condoms and morning-after birth control pills.
After returning to Gainesville, Seguin was "angry" when she found that obtaining the morning-after pill in the United States, where it is a prescription drug, was difficult for her.
Seguin and about 20 other women, many of them members of local activist groups, gathered Sunday on University Avenue and pledged to share the morning-after pill with each other. The action was part of a national campaign to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve over-the-counter sales of the drug.
The FDA had been expected to make a ruling on the matter this week. On Friday, however, the company that makes the pills, which are also called Plan B, announced that a decision had been postponed for 90 days.
In December, FDA advisory committees voted 23-4 in favor of recommending that the pills be sold without a prescription. Opponents of the change, however, said it could lead to increases in unsafe sex and sexually transmitted diseases.
Participants at the Gainesville event were given packages of pills and asked to sign a petition. Organizers also passed out postcards addressed to FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan that included messages asking for approval of over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill.
Candi Churchill, a member of Gainesville Women's Liberation and Gainesville Area NOW groups, said using the morning-after pill has made it easier for her to practice safe sex. Churchill said she has gotten calls from other women asking for help with obtaining the pill.
"After a frustrating day trying to run around and get it from her doctor, one friend called me and I offered her a few of my pills," Churchill said. "Another time, another friend called me, so she took the pills. She took them without her partner knowing because he was pressuring her to have another child with him. I was happy to be an accomplice to her criminal act of controlling her own destiny."
After speaking, Churchill handed Erika Gubrium, who is also a member of Gainesville Area NOW, a package of morning-after pills.
Gubrium said financial difficulties would prevent her from getting a prescription for morning-after pills if she needed it. She said the lack of access to the drug is "a problem of access to affordable health care as much as anything."
A coalition of conservative lawmakers, led by Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., have asked the Bush administration to reject the approval of non-prescription sale of the pills. They have argued that it is inconsistent to advocate sexual abstinence and then allow the morning-after pill to be sold over-the-counter.
Representatives from the National Lawyers Guild, an activist legal group, attended the event to note what took place in case law enforcement or legal authorities got involved. That did not occur on Sunday, but Seguin said if it had, the group would have continued with the action.
"It was always a possibility we had to be prepared for," Seguin said. "but we are really serious about our pledge."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Rachel Kipp can be reached at (352) 374-5086 or kippr at gvillesun.com.