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FDA Begins Debate on Availability of Morning-After Pill Tuesday

NEW YORK, December 12, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A company that sells a brand of an abortifacient morning-after pill wants authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to offer the pill over the counter without a prescription, claiming that it is merely another option for contraception. Debate over making the pill accessible without a prescription in the U.S. begins Tuesday.

The company, Women's Capital Corp. (WCC), based in Washington, claims that their Plan B version, made by Gedeon Richter Ltd. of Hungary, is different from Mifepristone RU-486, which induces a miscarriage at any time after conception. By contrast, says Sharon Camp, founder and chief executive of WCC, Plan B uses progestin, a hormone used in contraceptive pills, to interfere with ovulation or prevent fertilization. "We believe that removing the prescription requirement is critical to giving women timely access to back-up birth control," Camp says -- clearly stating that the pills are contraceptive in intent.

In the Canadian Physicians For Life publication, Vital Signs, president Dr. Rob Pankratz describes the mechanism by which the "morning after pill" works. He states that, contrary to the manufacturers claim of it being "contraceptive", in approximately 75 percent of cases, the pill is abortifacient, in that it makes implantation of a newly formed fetus impossible. In the other 25 percent of cases, if the pill is taken before ovulation, ovulation may be inhibited. Dr. Pankratz goes on to say "use of the [morning after pill] involves a direct attack on an already formed unique human life and is in the same league as the use of methotrexate and misoprostol [abortion-inducing medications like RU-486] for medical abortions".

Dr. Pankratz also reports a 10-fold increase in dangerous ectopic pregnancies caused by the use of morning after pills, as cited in: Obstetrics and Gynecology (7th edition 1994, Lippincott- Raven Pub), a textbook by J Danforth.

The Physicians For Life website (http://www.physiciansforlife.ca) also warns that increased access to morning-after pills will increase its use. "The 1998-99 annual report of Planned Parenthood Federation of America showed an 83.5% increase in 'emergency contraception clients,'" the report says.

The same Physicians For Life report also states "Manufacturers stress that the [morning-after pill] is not intended for repetitive use but offer no realistic plan to prevent this. In Asia, repetitive [morning-after pill] use (and health consequences) have become commonplace, and health authorities there have become concerned."

Read New York Times coverage at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/12/health/12PILL.html

See Physicians For Life site at:
http://www.physiciansforlife.ca

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