6A the university daily kansan
monday, November 10, 2003
emergency contraception
CONTRACCEPTION: Preparation key
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
get to Planned Parenthood, Beck worried it was too late to take emergency contraception.
"I was like, I could be pregnant with a rapist's baby," Beck said. "A rapist fetus could be growing inside me and I would have to decide whether to have an abortion, which I didn't want to do."
Although Beck said she had no
most objectively surgical abortion, she didn't want to have one. She thought she was protecting herself by not having sex, she said. This wasn't her choice, she said.
Her other option, wasn't appealing, either.
"I could have a child that would forever be a reminder that its biological father is arapist," she said.
At this point, she said, all she could do is wait.
Beck's options
"I was like, I could be pregnant with a rapist's baby. A rapist fetus could be growing inside me and I would have to decide whether to have an abortion, which I didn't want
"Whether you abort the morning of conception or five months later, it's the same exact thing, it's an abortion," Leland said.
Whether a woman has been a victim of rape or a victim of failed contraception, she has options to prevent pregnancy if she acts quickly, said Sylvie Rueff, Lawrence member of the National Organization for Women.
do."
Rueff said she didn't know where life began, but that doctors often record implantation as confirmation of pregnancy.
Emergency contraception, known more commonly as the morning-after pill, is a combination of pills, much like birth control pills, that prevents implantation of a fertilized egg up to 72 hours after intercourse. Some reports suggest it can be effective up to five days after intercourse, according Henry W. Buck, head of gynecology at Watkins.
Justice For All, said she believed emergency contraception was an abortion
"We don't know exactly all the things that it does," Rueff said of emergency contraception.
Rueff describes it as "a big dose of birth control pills" that could frustrate the ovulation cycle or create an inhospitable climate in the uterus so a fertilized egg could not implant.
Corrina Beck Kansas City, Mo., graduate student
"If you believe that preventing that fertilized egg from implanting, so its only option is to be flushed, and you believe
There is still debate as to whether this is similar to an abortion.
Rachel Leland, Wichita senior and president of the Lawrence chapter of
that fertilized egg is a life, then you could say this is an abortifacit, but the same is true for birth control," Rueff said.
Rueff said since birth control pills disrupted the reproductive cycle in a similar fashion, they contributed to the same process — a hormonal change affecting fertility.
No woman should be forced to use emergency contraception, Rueff said. But if she wanted to, she should know where it
is available. Rueff said.
According to Planned Parenthood, there are four methods of emergency contraception. Plan B, a progestin pill, reduces the risk of pregnancy by 89 percent. Preven is a combination pill with progestin and estrogen that reduces risk by 75 percent. Other options are the A Copper-T Inter-Uterine Device and some oral contraceptives.
Watkins provides emergency contraception during all business hours, Buck said. He said that although the gynecology clinic was closed on the weekends, women could request emergency contraception from doctors in the general health clinic. The clinic is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Buck said he prescribed Plan B, a two-pill progestin supplement. Because it doesn't have estrogen, Buck said, it was less likely that the woman would be nauseated.
Plan B is the newest form of emergency contraception, said Cathy Thrasher, chief pharmacist at Watkins. Thrasher said Watkins nurse-practitioners would distribute Plan B to patients at their visit so they won't have to go to the pharmacy, which might not
Counseling and Psychological Services, 864-2277
SERVICES AVAILABLE
Counseling and
Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, 864-3552
Emergency contraception in any area, 1-888-NOT-2-LATE
Rape Victim Survivor Services. 841-2345
Planned Parenthood of Lawrence, 832-0281
Watkins Memorial Health Care Center, 864-9500
Women's Transitional Care Services, 843-3333
be as private. Billing can also be confidential if they seek services through Watkins clinic rather than the pharmacy. Thrasher said.
Planned Parenthood will provide confidential services for their patients, Wilmont said, but it becomes more difficult to seek emergency contraception if the clinic is closed. If a woman is not a patient already but is seeking emergency contraception, that woman can meet with a nurse practitioner to receive a prescription during office hours. Planned Parenthood is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays. It is closed Wednesdays and weekends.
Instead of risking the clinic being closed, Wilmont said, the clinic would give prescriptions that could be filled at any time there was an emergency.
"I recommend anyone that isn't on a regular form of birth control get a prescription and keep it on hand," Wilmont said.
Buck said women who are already on birth control pills should not take emergency contraception.
"Those means of birth control are more effective than Plan B," Buck said. "You don't want to use the lesser effective method. There's no need."
Buck said that if a woman was pregnant, emergency contraception would do nothing.
Rueff said because of the low occurrence of side effects, drug manufacturers have pushed to allow over-the-counter availability. Plan B manufacturers submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration last summer to be an over-the-counter medication. They are awaiting a final decision.
LAWRENCE PHARMACIES
THAT STOCK EMERGENCY
CONTRACEPTION
HyVee pharmacy, 3504 Clinton Parkway, 832-0110
Plan B, $15
Preven $24
Javhawk pharmacy, 3510
Clinton Parkway Place, 843-0111
Planned Parenthood of
Plan B. $19
Preven, $25, not currently in stock
Lawrence, 2108 W. 27 St., 832-
0281
Preven. $65
Roundcorner Pharmacy, 801 Massachusetts St., 843-0200
Preven, $35.99
Target pharmacy, 3201 S. Iowa St..832-0312
Walgreens pharmacy, 3421 W.
6 St., 841-5400, and 400 W. 23rd
93rd Street, 23rd Flr.
St.,832-8188
Plan B, $24.99
Plan B, $24.99
Preven, $24.99
Watkins Memorial Health Center pharmacy, 864-9512
Plan B, $20
Preven, $20.85
A second chance
Emergency contraception was the second chance Beck was seeking, she said.
Beck went to sleep that night with regret. She regretted the date had ever happened. She regretted she wouldn't get the chance to use contraception. And she regretted that for the next month she would spend more time taking STD tests, finding it too late to press charges and worrying than she would spend time working on her law school classes.
She waited for her menstrual period.
"I took a pregnancy test and then I took another pregnancy test and then I took another pregnancy test," Beck said. "They were all negative."
A week late, Beck finally had her menstrual period.
Through this, Beck found a calling.
Raped, yes. Pregnant, no.
Be careful, she warns women — a warning she wished she had two and a half years ago.
Edited by Abby Sidesinger
1009 Mass.
BARTONline
Having trouble getting your class schedule to work?
Dropped a class? Need to add a class?
Barton County Community College offers online college courses.
We offer both 9-week and 17-week sessions. General education courses transfer to Kansas Regents schools.
Find our schedule online!
www.bartonline.org
Life is calling How far will you go?
TEMPLE
Join us for our annual Peace Corps Open House at KU. The evening will include former volunteers sharing stories, a brief video overviewing the volunteer experience, applications, program information, and a Q&A session. Apply now for 2004 openings!
Peace Corps Open House
Wednesday, November 12
5 p.m.
Burge Union
Courtside Room
*Stop by the Peace Corps Information Table in the Kansas Union lobby on 11/12 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
For more information:
For more information, contact Betty Baron, KU Campus Rep.
864-7679
peacecops@ku.edu
A
839 MASSACHUSETTS LAWRENCE KS 66044
.