- Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY) introduced the Emergency Contraception Education Act to educate heath care providers and the public about emergency contraception (EC). While doctors have prescribed forms of EC for more than thirty years, widespread misunderstanding about the pills and a lack of information and access to EC persists.
"Over 7500 American women become pregnant unintentionally every day. The medical community agrees that ready access to EC in the case of contraceptive failure or unprotected sex is an important tool to remedy this disastrous situation," said Bonnie Scott Jones, Staff Attorney at the Center for Repoductive Rights.
Emergency contraceptive pills are ordinary birth control pills that can act to prevent a pregnancy up to 72 hours after unprotected sex or a contraceptive failure. EC is not "the abortion pill" - mifepristone or RU-486. While mifepristone induces a very early non-surgical abortion, EC has no effect on an established pregnancy.
Last year, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Agency on behalf of over 70 health, religious and women's groups seeking over the counter status for EC. Increased access to EC is strongly supported by major medical organizations, who estimate that half of all unintended pregnancies and half of the resulting abortions could be avoided if women could more easily access EC in that crucial 72 hours.
The broad support for EC education and access contrasts sharply with an anti-EC effort introduced last week by Representative Melissa Hart (R-PA). The "Schoolchildren’s Health Protection Act" would effectively blackmail school districts by robbing them of federal funding if they provide EC to young women visiting school-based health centers, unless they obtain mandatory written parental consent.
"Young women seeking EC at school-based health centers are already sexually active and are taking responsible action to avoid unintended pregnancy," added Jones. "Requiring parental consent could stop many of them from seeking the help that they need."
