Use of Plan B emergency contraceptive has soared on the campus – a trend health officials expect to continue with last week’s federal approval to make the drug available without a prescription.
The number of new Plan B University Health Center prescriptions skyrocketed last year by more than 70 percent, health center officials said, making it one of the most popular form of hormonal contraceptives on the campus, second only to the birth control pill.
Officials point to increased awareness and a million-dollar marketing campaign as the cause for the popularity of the drug, which, if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can prevent pregnancy. Sexual health coordinator for the Health Center Tara Torchia said “there are more educated people on a college campus and they have more access [to the emergency contraceptive pill].
Use of the drug is increasing faster than any other birth control method on the campus. NuvaRing climbed just 45 percent in the same 2004 to 2005 time period, and the birth control pill came in at a distant third with a three percent increase.
The Food and Drug Administration decision last week to make the pill available behind the counter in pharmacies for women 18 and older caused some controversy. While some worry that Plan B can encourage reckless sex, health center officials say there are few instances of abuse on the campus.
“We do see some women who use it frequently, and we try to counsel them to use more effective methods of birth control rather than relying on Plan B,” said health center physician Dr. Shelley Parr.
The health center offers counseling when a woman requests an additional prescription for the drug in a short amount of time, such as three times in six months, Parr said.
Anytime students go through the health center for prescription birth control, Parr said they are encouraged to participate in a “contraceptive education” session where they watch a video about the various forms of birth control, Parr said.
With the FDA’s decision, doctors have been cut from the equation. The health center has not yet decided how to offer students guidance in the new process.
Even though the campus has seen a large increase in the number of new prescriptions for Plan B, this not necessarily an indication that students are sexually irresponsible, said Melinda Chateauvert, who teaches the Gender, Sexuality and the Black Family course.
“What it does mean is that we have more women taking precautions,” Chateauvert said.
“It’s available widely in Europe without prescription and without an age limit, and we haven’t seen ill social effects,” she added.
It is too early to tell whether women on this campus are substituting Plan B for more traditional methods of birth control such as condoms or the pill, because the recently completed National Health Assessment on this campus did not examine Plan B trends.
Introduction of near universal access to the drug by adult women has given some reproductive rights activists like sophomore Elizabeth Chipkin reason to cheer.
“I think it’s a great thing,” Chipkin said. “If people have accidents, especially on a college campus where a lot of this happens on a Saturday or Sunday … having Plan B is crucial.”
That controversy resulted in a three-year battle with the FDA, with critics of the drug, such as Executive Director of the American Life League David Bereit, saying its availability put women at higher risk of sexually transmitted diseases as well.
“Students will engage in riskier behavior because they think they have a back up plan,” Bereit said. “It’s going to give people this feeling that they have this great safety net and it’s everything but that.”
Activists such as Bereit have an additional concern that the drug “causes a hostile environment in the woman’s uterus,” Bereit said, because of the way the drug functions. The drug is designed to prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb – which prevents the pregnancy – a fact pro-life activists have railed against.
In 2003, two federal committees recommended that the drug be approved for over the counter use, but the application was denied because the drug manufacturer failed to submit enough evidence that 14- to 16-year-olds could safely use the drug without supervision.
The issue dragged on until Aug. 24, when the FDA came to a conclusion.
Chateauvert compared the current situation to concern about women taking birth control pills in the ’60s. Women taking the pill back then were presumed to be engaging in sex, she said.
“I think women today and earlier times are seeking control over their bodies. By taking control, they’re showing reproductive control and engaging in family planning,” Chateauvert said.
Contact Sharahn D. Boykin at boykindbk@gmail.com.
