CAKE Byte 40.0: 72 Hours

It's Friday night, and you just had incredible, mind-blowing sex with your favorite beau, but at the moment of orgasm (hopefully both of you at once - although we think this only happens in the movies) the super silky, lubed-up condom slips out of place and the dreadful, inevitability happens - you just had unprotected intercourse. For the moment, let's pretend that you and this beau of yours have been adequately and appropriately tested for every STD in the book, so the one and only fear on your mind is the possibility of an unintended pregnancy.

You decide that there is only one thing to do - throw on some clothes, hike down to the nearest 24-hour Duane Reade and pick up a dose of emergency contraception (EC)-preventative medicine at its best.

But wait, not so fast - instead of giving you what you need, the pharmacist notifies you that you cannot get EC without a prescription from your doctor. You will need to wait until Monday, a full 3 days after the unprotected sex, to get EC. Since EC only works within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, and the sooner it is used, the more effective it is (nearly 100% effective when used within the first 12 hours), you are now at risk of seriously increasing your chances of becoming pregnant. All because emergency contraception remains one of medicine's best kept secrets - and is unfortunately NOT available over the counter.

What's the story here? In the United States, emergency contraception is available by prescription only - except in Washington State, where pharmacists are allowed to distribute it without a prescription. The US Food and Drug Administration has declared emergency contraceptive pills to be safe and effective, yet substantial barriers exist for women obtaining this fallback contraceptive method. Why is it still impossible for women in the U.S. to get EC over the counter and in the process prevent unintended pregnancies (every woman will most likely have at least 2 in her lifetime)? It must be politics baby. Catering to the conservative rights' agenda, the FDA has yet to approve EC for over the counter use even though all major American medical associations recommend it.

CAKE believes that emergency oral contraception should be available to women in every state over the counter. Then, at last, women would have access to an important method of preventing pregnancy.

In the meantime, if you are a smart, savvy, CAKE.Girl, you know that the same birth control millions of women take every day can also be used - in a specific combination - as emergency contraception. Or maybe you asked your doctor for a prescription for EC in advance, and the box is lying securely next to your box of condoms.

FYI - Emergency contraceptives are pregnancy preventers - they are not abortion agents. EC prevents ovulation and changes the environment of the uterus. This in turn prevents you FROM getting pregnant. If you are ALREADY pregnant, and if a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus - the definition of pregnancy - using EC will not dislodge or destroy it. No matter how you slice it, there's no "moment of creation" no "baby killing" and no "harm" done by any standards, no matter how backwards or misinformed the opposition may be.

April is reproductive rights month on CAKE - covering topics such as abortion, contraception, STDs/HIV, sex education and EC. CAKE strongly believes that reproductive rights are the foundation for women's power over our bodies and sexual lives. Maintaining choice over and access to reproductive rights is critical to all women's ability to achieve our full potential.

For more information on emergency contraception and other reproductive rights issues, check out the new and improved CAKE.Politics section

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Have you ever used EC and if so, what was the experience like?

SUBMIT your response at CAKE.REPORT.

Love,
CAKE