A Small, But Crucial Stepping Stone

3 years and countless efforts by conservatives to deny women their reproductive rights, finally "The Morning After Pill" has been approved by the FDA and is now legally and OTC option to prevent pregnancy.

The Morning After Pill

I know that I, like many women's activist organizations out there, am NOT pleased that this option has been limited to only women over the age of 18.

Women under 18 get raped too.

America also has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the "Western World." HELLO PEOPLE....why are some so eager to deny teenagers the right to avoid a life that statically can be a lonely uphill struggle for the parents and the child? Max and I are potentially a success story in this scenario, so many are not. Teen pregnancy has long been this countries dirty little secret and there is very little support for teen parents that has the potential to empower them, so much of the resources out there often condemn these children who are having children to a life time of dependency on the government, their families, drugs, alcohol....what have you, the current cycle does NOT work, so why not empower these kids NOW, while they have a choice...before they become parents?

Not to mention the blatant misconception by some that if you instruct a teen to be abstinent, they will do it. HELLO AGAIN PEOPLE....being sexual is a very normal part of human development and it starts earlier than our culture seems to want to acknowledge. Teaching them to respect themselves and their potential partners and to be safe and protect themselves seems a more tangible approach.

The idea of controlling pregnancy has been around long before the birth control pill, condoms, IUD or any of the other commonly used birth control measures of today even existed. I just think how women avoided pregnancy was a bit more secret, a secret that I think women kept to themselves. We now live in a time where we know people are having sex and sex not only has the potential to create life, but it can now kill you. We have NO choice but to protect ourselves and our bodies!

In spite of my frustrations over the age requirements to access this birth control option, I am extremely hopeful for the women who can. It feels like another small victory towards women ultimately having the right to choose for ourselves and protect our bodies.

I think the next challenge in this issue will be how available access truly is to "Plan B." I predict a slew of pharmacies and health care providers refusing to carry or sell the product. Protests for those who do. I also don't think that now that this option is legal, that their will not be forces actively working to demonize it.

Until then, for those of you who lobbied for FDA approval on this issue...congratulations - this work will not go unnoticed or unappreciated.