I've been seeing a ton of commercials on TV for Plan B (the morning-after pill) lately and I wanted to know what you guys thought about it.
According to their official site, Plan B is emergency contraception - "a backup method of preventing pregnancy - and is not for routine use. It can reduce the chance of pregnancy when taken as directed up to 72 hours (3 days) after unprotected sex (if your regular birth control method fails, or if you've had sex without birth control)".
Essentially, it's a higher dose form of birth control that can cover you if your birth control fails or you don't use it. If you're over 18, you can get Plan B without a prescription - as long as you have an ID and about $50 cash, you can get it at your local pharmacy. People 17 and younger need a prescription.
Supporters say that it gives peace of mind to women who have been raped or whose contraception has failed. Those who aren't such big fans say that it encourages teenagers to have unprotected sex because they have an easy way out if they don't use protection.
Do you think emergency contraception gives people who engage in unprotected sex an easy way out, or is this a good way to keep unwanted pregnancy, especially in young women, low? "Neither" is an acceptable answer, too...
Also, for anyone who has taken Plan B, I'd love to hear your stories.
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Comments (147)
Plan B doesn't give them an excuse to have unprotected sex, but it does give women peace of mind. I would much rather a woman take birth control or Plan B than get an abortion. People need to pick their battles, honestly. They're not happy with abortion but they aren't happy with contraception techniques either?
People who engage in unprotected sex either do that because they're irresponsible / moronic, or because they are uneducated. In this day and age, most people are the former. It's hard to not realize that having unprotected sex can be dangerous. If you don't want a baby, it's obvious that you need some kind of protection. If you don't know the person you're having sex with very well, it's obvious that you need to be using some kind of protection.
It's a great way to dodge a very serious bullet.
This pill would be useless to me because if my birth control pill fails I wont know until I'm pregnant.
What may also discourage, especially, a young girl from buying it the cost. It discouraged me from buying it when I should have.
I don't think in Canada you need a prescription but they used to question you about your sexual history which has stopped as of last year.
I think safe sex should still be used even if they have something like Plan B available because always taking a pill like that can get expensive and may not be good for your body!
I'm gonna have to do some more research on this, its interesting
People are abusing sex. They can get away with just about everything now.I just wish that people wouldn't abort unless they had to. They are just getting away with sex without the consequences. and the next day getting rid of what THEY did wrong. People should just protect themselves from getting pregnant if they don't want to.
@pillowpixies@xanga - I agree.
I think that if teenagers are going to have unprotected sex, then they are going to do it regardless of if they can get this pill or not. Plus, if they are under 18 then they can't get it without a prescription, in which case wouldn't they just get a prescription for birth control pills?
Through my volunteer work I have occasionaly been called on to take some girls to a rape crisis center. This is the time plan B pills were designed to be used. I don't think there is any chance of these pills ever becoming popular because of the way they work. To simply it a bit the function of these pills is to basically force you to have a really heavy period thus cleansing your body of any zygote that may have formed. I think that the severe cramping and heavy bleeding caused by these pills in the girls I have gone through it with is probably enough to make most young women never want to use this as birthcontrol more than one time.
I think its a good way to keep unwanted pregnancy HOWEVER...women and men should always carry condoms so there wont be any need for EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVES. Spendin a couple of bucks on buyin some condoms is WAY BETTER than having to buy PLAN B for 50 dollars. Come on ladies and gentlemen...LETS THINK!
Well it definitely gave me peace of mind. Only used it once and hopefully never again.
I think people need to start being more responsible for their choices, and I think part of what society has done is create the image that we don't always need to be responsible. Just between hit and runs that I have seen and knowing some pretty spoiled kids... It's okay to be selfish and self-centered every so often... It's when it's in excess, to the point where they take no responsibility, that's what I despise. And it seems like more and more kids are like that now than ever. I honestly think we should teach children better about sex and stuff like that. I got out of high school and had friends in high school telling me about some group of sluts in the jr. high who would have sex with anybody. I talked to a friend of mine and he mentioned something about when he was just graduating, a girl who was interested in him had invited him over. The mom didn't seem to care and the girl said that the mom knows about what she does and doesn't mind it. What are we supposed to expect from parents? That they are supposed to care, set examples, set ground rules, etc? Or are they just roommates? I'm seriously thinking that that's what parents have become now, roommates. I'm not against plan B itself, I'm against the irresponsibility of relying on plan B when there is no reason for it. I think that we need to make it so that plan B requires a police notice or a prescription and some form of ID saying that a person is at least 21. This world has been stupified enough, and it's about time we stopped sitting in front of computers playing WOW all day and started evolving as a race. Today's people is proof that evolution can go both ways. We haven't evolved in centuries. We've evolved our technology, but we haven't evolved as a race. What happened to survival of the fittest? Why do we have all of this overpopulation? What do we do that causes so much to happen as to melt the ice caps? People have said that global warming is not a major problem, but with the rising number of mosquitos in Alaska, the number of caribou decreasing in Alaska, the weather getting weird everywhere, and fires occurring more regularly than before... I think we should start caring about a lot of things. By the time people start turning towards fixing the problems, the problems are almost beyond repair. Are we that blind that we wait until there is a problem to fix something that could have been seen as a problem long ago? I'd say we fail as a race if we can't even fix something like teen pregnancies. Sure I may have went all over the place to say that Plan B is an irresponsible thing and that teens are taught the wrong thing, but how long will it take before we act to change something? How many mistakes do we have to make individually before the entire country takes an action to fix it?
@MyShAdeOfGrAy@xanga - What if that condom broke? That's one scenario this pill could be used for.
@MyShAdeOfGrAy@xanga - Yes. THINK SMART. Always have protected sex. But if you're not at that age where you can bear the responsibilities IF the protection fail, just don't do it.
Condoms break, people make mistakes, shit happens. I know plan B can save a girl a lot of trouble in the future if a mishap should happen. Besides unless you have been in that situation where u think you could be pregnant...you don't know how scary it can be. You look somewhere to turn. And if plan B was not around what would you do? Just hope that you don't get pregnant? weak.
Sad, but that's why its important to use a form of birth control!
Xo
I think Plan B is what the buyer makes of it. Some women who are sexually active do want to be responsible and have some "peace of mind," should something happen (a condom breaking or not having a condom available at all). But there are some women who would treat this as a way to have sex whenever they want without getting pregnant.
Personally I think more people (mainly teenagers) should not being having so much sex. Plan B isn't bad in itself, but some people like to abuse these things, hence the high cost and/or prescription.
Your facts are kind of wrong :(
In Pennsylvania, you can go to Planned Parenthood and get it (no need to see a doctor, they just ask you what the day of the "accident" was), and it's free if you're under 18.
"oh, i don't like how condoms feel, so i'm just going to tell my mom tomorrow that i need to go to the doctor, refuse to give her a reason, then shell out 50 dollars cash. condoms are such a hassle! the plan b pill is so much better!"
are you kidding?!?!?! hahaha
of course women don't use this as a reason to have unprotected sex. it complicates everything. it's only when things go terribly wrong.
@joycemiles@xanga - when does it count as a 'have to' for abortion?
not being argumentative, just curious.
anywho, plan B isn't considered abortion, although there is an abortion pill if you realize you're pregnant in time.
and i think $50 is the right price... high enough to discourage people from using it casually but low enough that if you NEEDED it you could scrounge up the money.
i have no problem with it. i think it's a good thing.
It prevents unwanted pregnancies which otherwise would have resulted in abortions. So which is better? A much more invasive surgery (abortion) or a morning after pill?
I dont think Plan B gives young kids the ability to be more irresponsible. If anything, they are being responsible by doing what they should so they don't become ill-equipped teenage parents who will only bring a child into an unstable/insecure home.
Yes I have tried Plan B. And yes I was being responsible, but condoms rip sometimes too.
I took PlanB a few years ago, when the condom broke. It gave me really bad cramps.
You can get it free at Planned Parenthood, but I got mine from the school health center. Its a series of three pills that you take a few hours apart (or it was four years ago anyway).
@SeeBeeWrite@xanga - i agree!
It's not an excuse to not use condoms or other birth control.
I had to take it after I was raped.
$50 doesn't sound like an "easy" way out.
Plan B is not for shits and giggles. It's uncomfortable, it will cause irregular bleeding, and it makes you feel like crap for a day or two. You're taking a huge amount of hormones, and that's never going to be fun.
I have never gotten myself into a situation where I would need Plan B. I refused to have sex until I was on the pill, and the person I was with used a condom, so we were like.. what, 198% protected? However, my friend got some pre-cum up into her after an unfortunate blow job incident, and THAT is especially where Plan B is a great resource to have accessible.
You do not have to have sex to get pregnant, nor do you have to be 'moronic/idiot' as I believe someone so eloquently said up there ^. Sperm has a mind of its own, and it's nice to have a cheap, accessible backup.
we have enough people on this planet.
there is no easy way out of dealing with unprotected sex.
that's what std's and emotional breakdowns are for.