Wisconsin Pro-Life Group Criticizes "Morning After" Pill Hotline
by Maria Gallagher
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
May 13, 2004
Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) — A Wisconsin pro-abortion group is now running a hotline for women to have the morning-after pill delivered to their doors.
The move comes just days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refused to allow over-the-counter sales of "Plan B," citing concerns about the dangers easy access to the abortifacient could bring, especially for teenagers.
"It is simply appalling that this potent and potentially dangerous drug will be available to women without any medical supervision whatsoever," said Barbara Lyons, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life. "We are particularly concerned that the Wisconsin Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association will be putting this drug into the hands of vulnerable minor girls."
"It appears that making it easy to obtain the morning-after pill overrides all other considerations, including the health of Wisconsin’s women," Lyons added.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the overnight delivery service will make obtaining the morning-after pill in Wisconsin "just as easy" as over-the-counter sales.
A spokesman for the pro-abortion group, Lon Newman, said, "Clearly the FDA decision was not the one we wanted. Having emergency contraception over the counter makes it more available to more women. But we can probably get it to you as soon as possible, and, in many cases, get it to you for free."
But a number of medical experts say the term "emergency contraception" itself is misleading. Rather than prevent a pregnancy from occurring, the morning-after pill can act to kill an unborn child after he or she is conceived.
By refusing to call the morning-after pill what it is, say pro-life advocates, the abortion lobby does a disservice to women who do not want to be involved in an abortion.
Opponents of Plan B also point out that the abortion pill can promote promiscuity and increase the risk of sexually-transmitted diseases.
The Wisconsin pro-abortion group plans to launch a "public education campaign" to promote the morning-after pill hotline in the coming months. The organization represents more than 60 family planning clinics in Wisconsin.
In rejecting over-the-counter sales of Plan B, the FDA said that, before the drug could be sold without a prescription, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. would have to prevent young teenagers from obtaining it or else prove that young people can understand how to use it without the aid of a doctor.
The abortion lobby is heavily promoting the morning-after pill. Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion operation, has been prescribing it at PP facilities in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
In fact, under the Wisconsin Medicaid family planning waiver, women age 15 to 44 can get the morning-after pill for free if their yearly income is at or below 185% of the poverty level — or $17,000 a year.
With the hotline, customers who don’t qualify for free abortion pills can obtain them by credit card.
The hotline is expected to be heavily promoted on college campuses, which have been historically targeted by the abortion industry. The publicity blitz could include billboards and radio advertising.
Pro-life leaders note that such an advertising campaign is dangerous and reckless, because it will not mention the harmful effects the morning-after pill can have on women and what the drug means for their unborn children.
Related web sites:
Wisconsin Right to Life – https://www.wrtl.org
