Oregon Bill to Sell Morning After Pill Over the Counter Under Passes

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 18, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Oregon Bill to Sell Morning After Pill Over the Counter Under Passes Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 18, 2005

Salem, OR (LifeNews.com) — Legislation that would make Oregon one of just seven states nationwide to allow sales of the so-called morning after pill over the counter received approval from the Oregon state Senate Tuesday. The measure comes at a time when the FDA is considering allowing women over 16 to purchase the drugs without a doctor’s visit.

Under the Oregon measure, specially trained pharmacists would be able to sell customers the Plan B drugs that sometimes cause abortions.

Backers of the bill claim the morning after pill would reduce the number of abortions and decrease teenage pregnancies.

However, a recent study, conducted by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, that found increased access to the "morning after" pill did not lower pregnancy rates because many women did not use the pills.

Wendy Wright, of Concerned Women for America, said the study showed "easy access to the drug increases sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates," a situation she called "alarming."

"Furthermore, studies show that the abortion rate is unaffected, and in some cases has increased," she explained.

"Proponents have repeatedly claimed that making the drug available without a prescription would reduce abortion numbers by as many as half; now their own study debunks that claim," Cathy Cleaver Ruse, speaking for the nation’s Catholic bishops, added.

Should the measure become law, Oregon would become the seventh state to allow such sales of the drug.

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Maine, New Mexico and Washington allow the morning after pill to be purchased without a prescription. Canada has also made the sometimes abortion drug Plan B available over the counter without a prescription.

The Senate approved Senate Bill 849 on a 22-9 vote and the measure now heads to the state House.

Oregon State Legislature – https://www.leg.state.or.us