Plan B One Step For Minors?

99% of American women in the United States who are sexually active have used at least one birth control method, states the CDC. Birth control is a significant issue in America for good reason – birth control affects everyone, but that doesn’t mean that it should be easily available. Currently, the President and the United States Food and Drug Administration are debating whether or not young women should be allowed to buy one type of birth control, Plan B One Step, without a prescription. Plan B One Step is a backup pregnancy prevention method after unprotected sex or birth control failure. Those supporting non-prescriptive Plan B One Step do not have the proper facts they need to support their claims, whereas those supporting prescriptive Plan B do. Plan B One Step may be safe and effective for women older than seventeen; yet not prescribed, it can potentially harm those who are younger than seventeen because they do not understand how to properly use the medication and may use the pill for other potentially dangerous purposes. Additionally, this pill has not been tested thoroughly enough and has too many risks for those who lack knowledge about the pill.

A main reason the FDA was cautious in approving Plan B One Step was because they weren’t sure if girls younger than seventeen were responsible enough. They were very worried that people would incorrectly use the medicine after the recommended seventy-two hours. Plan B One Step isn’t to be taken after the specified time because it loses its effectiveness drastically after the three day period. The FDA was also worried that young girls may find out that they are pregnant and then take Plan B One Step to try and end the pregnancy. As someone who has been a sixteen year old girl, I can tell you that both of these situations happen more than you might think. I watched, on more than one occasion, a girl freaking out in the locker room because she found out she was pregnant and then deliberating if she should do something drastic to end the pregnancy. The girls I saw were always so flustered that they weren't truly thinking about the consequences of their desperate actions- like taking Plan B One Step after seventy-two hours. As of now, the effects of taking this medicine while pregnant are inconclusive.

It is unknown whether or not Plan B One Step causes damage to the baby, which is why it is so dangerous to take; there could be any number of harmful side effects after the child is born. Children can not be allowed to make a decision this large, that will affect not only them but their unborn babies as well, without first speaking to a health care professional.

Many parents and scholars speaking out about this issue believe that the ability for their children, and children in general, to buy this drug will result in an increase in sexual activity. They are worried that children will not use this medicine only when they need it, but in place of a regular birth control regimen. These kids may not understand that this medicine is not one hundred percent effective and that they still have the ability to get pregnant. The second problem with a possible increase in sexual activity is an increase in Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Young people may have the misconception that Plan B helps prevent the transmission of STDs, when in fact it does not. With this misunderstanding, they may experiment more with unprotected sex, and may contract an array of sexually transmitted diseases. Like most colleges, our student body at UNC Chapel Hill is a little sex-crazed. I have witnessed numerous not so hidden hook-ups and countless walks-of-shame’s on Sunday mornings, as most of us living on a college campus have, which is fine as long as those couples were being safe. It is extremely important to know which birth control methods protect against STDs and which don't so that you and your partner are informed and practicing safe sex. Contracting an STD at any age, but especially when this young, can ruin a future and a life. While a few STDs, such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, are caused by bacteria and can be cured, but not all can be. For example, any STD caused by a virus is incurable. Cases of these include Herpes and HIV, which can prove to be fatal later in life. This argument once again comes back to children's perceived inability to take the medicine as advised; only now this argument carries even more weight because parents know their children and their actions better than anyone else. If parents have concerns about their children’s ability to take Plan B One Step, so should we. 

Added worry about approving Plan B One Step to be sold without prescription to boys and girls under the age of seventeen are the harmful side effects of the medicine. This medicine has a long list of hazardous side effects that includes lower abdominal pain, dizziness, and fatigue. Another scary result of taking this drug is possible vomiting. This nausea, if it occurs, is supposed to occur two hours after consumption of Plan B One Step. The distributors only advice if any of these side effects are to transpire is to immediately see a doctor. It would make more sense to have the child visit the doctor first to make sure that they are well and healthy enough to take the medicine in the first place - before they get sick.

Lastly, Plan B One Step hasn’t been tested enough, nor is there enough information about this pill to allow children under the age of seventeen to use it without a perscription. By making a child acquire a prescription from a doctor, they are forced to discuss this issue with a healthcare professional while this visit also makes sure they are healthy enough to take the risk of using this medicine. The risk is so great because little is known about this medicine, even though it is for sale. The Plan B One Step website even admits to not knowing exactly how this medicine effectively stops a person from getting pregnant. “It works mainly by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary. It is possible that Plan B One-Step may also work by preventing fertilization of an egg...or by preventing attachment to the uterus.” It is possible? This statement should not be on the website of a supposedly effective medicine. A drug, especially one that is to be used by children as young as twelve years old, should know precisely what it is doing to the users body. This should not be a guessing game.

Now I know you've probably been wondering how this post relates to you, right? You're over seventeen, you're in college, you think you're mature and responsible, and therefore you don't need a prescription to buy Plan B One Step. Well even though all of that may be true, we're all still kids. I’m only eighteen years old, a year and a half ago I would’ve had to get a prescription for this medicine, and I'm not suddenly any more mature just because I'm now legally an adult. Basically, I’m trying to say that just because we don't need a prescription to buy this medicine doesn’t mean that we should make rash decisions or practice unsafe sex, we should stay informed and still be cautious of the side effects of this drug.

As the facts pile up, it becomes clear that Plan B One Step is not suitable for adolescents under the age of seventeen to use unless they have met with a doctor and have a prescription. The side effects of this medicine are too numerous and harmful, the FDA and the company itself still do not know exactly how it works, and children this young are not responsible or mature enough to take the medicine as specified on the box.