A good thing

[atomic-poppy.livejournal.com]

I know this is kind of unrelated to menstruation, but it is related to women. I've posted this in at least one other community right now, and will put it in others, so if you see it a lot, I'm sorry.

Planned Parenthood has a "Take Action" section on their main page. They're currently supporting a bill that would require hospitals across the nation to give survivors of rape and incest the morning-after pill (aka. emergency contracpetion). This would prevent up to 22 thousand pregnancies. If you're interested in supporting this bill, go to plannedparenthood.org, and click on that section about midway down the page. There's a form you can fill out and auto send an email to your congressperson.

Thanks for listening!

Comments

[peoke.livejournal.com]

be required to? i don't know if that is fair. what if the women wants to keep her child?

[atomic-poppy.livejournal.com]

Then I don't guess she'd take the pill. It doesn't say she is required to take it. But they have to give it to her. But I know when I was raped, I wish I would have been given EC. They DONT give it out currently, at least not where I'm from. I don't think anyone who has been raped would want to make that decision, whether to keep that baby or not. According to my counselor, most women have trouble just being around that baby, and seeing it reminds them of their rape or the incest. It would be much better if the 22,000 unwanted pregnancies were prevented, and if she wants to take the pill, she can.

Soapbox time!

[wait.livejournal.com]

"Required" as in required to TELL them that the morning-after pill (emergency contraception) exists.

Let's put it this way:

Imagine your sister was raped while she was on vacation. Her first instinct might be to go to a hospital to seek treatment. Standard procedure is to do an examination and a rape-kit (collecting fluids, hair & fibers). No problem so far.

But let's say she went to a Catholic-run hospital -- because after all, when you've been traumatized, you don't think about *which* hospital you should go to -- you simply *go*.

So if she goes to a Catholic-run hospital, they Are Not Required By Law to tell her about the morning-after pill.

Maybe she brings it up, maybe she doesn't -- and maybe the doctor will answer her questions, or maybe the doctor says that they aren't allowed to talk about it.

The problem is that the morning-after pill should be taken as soon as possible after unprotected sex. So if she doesn't find out about the morning after pill until she gets home in a week, its Too Late. Delaying treatment gets rid of the option of EC.

BTW... emergency contraception is NOT an abortion. Its a high-dose of regular birth control pills which basically induce your period. It can be up to 36 hours from the time you have unprotected sex to the time that conception actually happens -- so if you shed your egg (hey, that's catchy!) before the sperm gets there? No conception = no abortion.

Re: Soapbox time!

[atomic-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for explaining it better than I did. I'm glad someone else can talk better than I can, especially since I take this thing to heart. (And btw, it can be taken up to 72 hours afterward.)

[peoke.livejournal.com]

yarggh i thought you said required to give the pill no matter watter. thanks for clearing it up

[melonaise.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip!

[urania.livejournal.com]

... I agree about it being a good option; the idea that it should be presented, with proper information on how to take it, what side effects it can cause, and the fact that it doesn't "abort" anything (just prevents the pregnancy from taking root)... yeah. The way you phrased it, it almost sounded like she would be "required" to then take the pills, but I see that that's not what you mean.

[kaputski.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an excellent idea. They've definitely got my support.

[atomic-poppy.livejournal.com]

wonderful!