Choice protection

FDA approves the 'morning-after' kit

Twenty years ago, women were given the right to practice greater control over their reproductive capability. But until last week, women still did not have access to many of the options available for preventing an unwanted pregnancy. On Sept. 2, the Food and Drug Administration added one more option when they approved the PREVEN Emergency Contraceptive Kit.

Before this announcement, many women were kept in the dark - never presented with all of the medical know-how surrounding pregnancy prevention. For years, Planned Parenthood offices, some campus health centers and rape crisis clinics offered morning-after pills, but the drugs and the technique used - a series of pill-taking - were never widely accessible, nor discussed. Women now have more options, and rightly so.

The kit is $20 and will be available by prescription at the end of September. The pills work up to 72 hours after having unprotected sex, prevents pregnancy 98 percent of the time and have a shelf life of up to one-and-a-half years, allowing easy storage at home. The ease, reliability and accessibility of this form of contraception give women a back-up to consistent and regular contraception.

Opposition to the mass sale and marketing of the kit has already been voiced, particularly by religious leaders, which claims it is another form of abortion. But the PREVEN kit does not terminate an established pregnancy, it prevents or delays ovulation, prevents fertilization of an egg or prevents implantation of a fertilized egg. Yet it is this type of moral opposition that successfully stopped contraceptive manufacturers from selling pills that the FDA approved as safe and effective morning-after remedies in 1997. Finally, what has been deemed safe and has been available to women in Europe for years is now available to women in the United States.

What the United States has yet to approve is the French abortion pill, RU486. This pill actually ends a pregnancy up to several weeks after conception. While side-effects often include nausea and vomiting, this pill is yet another effective option that the United States keeps from all women. For women to fully take advantage of their right to choose, every medically based and approved option to end or prevent pregnancy should be available.

But with this new option comes a higher degree of responsibility. Though the PREVEN kit prevents pregnancy, it does not prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Regular use of condoms - the only form of contraception that can prevent the spread of many STDs - should always be a part of any sexual relationship. This morning-after option should not be used as standard contraception, but instead for emergency situations only. This milestone for women's reproductive health needs to be dealt with responsibly.

The newly approved kit could reduce half of the 2.7 million unintended pregnancies per year and could significantly reduce abortion rates, experts say. But women still deserve more options. The right to control their own bodies and reproductive responsibilities should be total and complete. While this FDA approval and later mass distribution is a step in the right direction, it is not enough for the millions of women in the United States.

09-09-98