Despite the controversy that has long surrounded emergency contraceptive use, the sale of it is increasing every year at Penn's Student Health Services.
During the 2003-2004 academic year, SHS passed out almost twice as many doses of Plan B emergency contraception -- commonly referred to as the morning-after pill -- as in 2002.
This trend coincides with a pending decision from the Food and Drug Administration regarding the over-the-counter sale of Plan B to people over 16 years of age.
"It's the best thing we've got going to decrease unplanned pregnancies," said Deborah Mathis, Penn's women's health coordinator.
Plan B can help prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after unprotected intercourse or contraceptive failure by preventing the fertilization of an egg or the implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterine wall.
SHS sold about 744 packets of the drug for about $15 each last year, not counting any regular prescriptions.
Mathis indicated two reasons for the increased buying.
First, she said she encourages women to obtain the pill preventively, for example, if they are going abroad.
Secondly, she said that "word of mouth" has made women more aware of how to obtain the drug.
A wider availability of the emergency contraceptive may prevent more teen pregnancies, but opponents of the drug say that it promotes promiscuity -- the issue surrounding the 2004 rejection of Barr Laboratories' first application for the general over-the-counter sale of its drug, Plan B.
"When things like this are available ... it gives people a false sense of security to engage in behaviors that may not result in pregnancy, but may result in STDs," said Steve Baker, the Philadelphia Metro director of Campus Crusade for Christ.
Baker said that he wonders if there is a correlation between increased usage of emergency contraception and the number of sexually transmitted diseases.
Baker also said that over-the-counter sale of Plan B "removes a lot of safeguards."
As the drug would be self-administered, "You don't know whether people are abusing it ... [and using the drug] every time they have sex," he said.
Rebecca Maynard, a Graduate School of Education professor currently involved in a seven-year national study on the efficacy of abstinence-only education programs, said she hopes that women using emergency contraception realize that "it's not something you want to do all the time."
"That shouldn't be a substitute for wise choices," she said.
Although SHS allows women to get up to four refills of Plan B without making another appointment, Mathis -- who is in favor of the over-the-counter sale of Plan B -- said that women should not be using it as their main form of contraception.
Baker noted that possible long-term effects of taking Plan B are not yet known.
"If someone were to do this habitually, what are the long-term consequences?" he asked.
Despite the drug's growing popularity, some students are still opposed to its use.
"It's not just an issue of preference; it's an issue of morality," Engineering senior and CCC member Justin Mills said.
He added that he is against Plan B being offered and advertised because he views it as a possible form of abortion.
Instead, Mills advocates abstinence.
Unlike Penn, which offers condoms, pregnancy testing and STD testing at no cost, Jesuit schools -- such as Georgetown University, Villanova University and Boston College -- choose not to offer services that aid in preventing conception.
As a Catholic university, Georgetown does not support the use of emergency contraception. Carol Day --Georgetown's director of Health Education Services -- said that she welcomes one-on-one discussions with students, whether or not they are abstaining from sex.
She said that health professionals at Georgetown try "to provide some information about the effectiveness of different practices" from abstinence to birth control options.
"We want to make sure that people have their questions answered," Day said.
She added that programs "that recommend abstinence [and] risk-reduction education ... have the highest success rates in getting people to be more careful."
Although the preliminary results from Maynard's study have not yet been published, many health professionals agree that a combined educational program is more effective than the abstinence-only method.
"People can make sensible choices themselves," Day said. And by providing "information that is not limited [to abstinence] ... people are making far more responsible choices."
Mathis agreed.
Abstinence-only education is "just not effective. Knowledge is power," she said. "And if you educate people [about] what the risks are [and] what the advantages are, they're going to be able to make better informed decisions."
Even though Mills said he believes in abstinence, he said he understands the need for comprehensive sex education.
"The only safe sex is abstinence, and yet people still have sex," he said. "So then you would do them harm by not" teaching them contraceptive methods.
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