Let’s talk about sex Is Plan B becoming Plan A? *Name has been changed to protect the privacy of the individual interviewed. Gavel Media granted anonymity due to the highly personal nature of the topic being discussed.
Since Mary Johnson* started having sex, she has used the morning-after pill three times; twice because the condom broke. The third was because no condom was used, and Johnson was not taking the birth control pill at the time. “But that’s all in the past,” Johnson said. She tries to be much more careful about using contraception now to avoid taking an emergency contraceptive pill — otherwise known as the morning-after pill or Plan B — and has started taking the birth control pill. Johnson isn’t alone in her usage of emergency contraception, though. One in nine sexually active women in the United States, ages 15 to 44, www.bcgavel.com
have used emergency contraceptive pills, according to the most recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Survey of Family Growth report published in February. Of those who have used the morning-after pill, most have only used it once (about 60 percent); 24 percent have used it twice; 17 percent have used it three or more times. The number of women who have used the morning-after pill — at 11 percent of sexually experienced women, up from 4 percent in 2002 — is only increasing with time since the approval of the emergency contraceptive pill in 1998 by the Federal Drug Administration.
By Marion Halftermeyer Copy Editor
Like Johnson, the women surveyed reported similar reasons for needing to use emergency contraceptive pills. About half the women reported that unprotected sex was the reason for seeking Plan B and 45 percent cited failure of contraceptive method used during intercourse. The new statistic can be seen in both a positive and negative light, said Lizzie Jekanowski, A&S ’13. Jekanowski is chair of Boston College Students for Sexual Health, BCSSH, a student-run group dedicated to expanding sexual health resources and information for students on campus. “Positively, it would mean that more women may have access to it,” she said. Though Jekanowski is not sure how true this could be given that over the past few years there has been anti-access rhetoric about emergency contraception and legislation surrounding its restriction. “But if more women believe it is just a regular form of birth control, it’s a negative thing. It really shouldn’t be viewed in that way,” Jekanowski said. She believes this comes down to misleading information and a general lack of comprehensive sexual health education in the U.S. The ever-use of emergency contraception was most common among women in the upperclassmen-aged demographic. According to the report, 23 percent of young women aged 20 to 24, compared to 16 percent for those in the 25 to 29 age range, have used it. Only 5 percent of women aged 30 to 44 have ever used Plan B. 7