The campaign
A controversial new advertising campaign in Britain, which aims to give the morning after pill free to women as a Christmas gift in December, has drawn the ire of many who claim it is “disgusting”.
In 2010 there were 189,574 abortions performed in the United Kingdom. Of those, 3,718 were to girls under 16, 12,742 to those aged 16 and 17, and 21,809 were to women aged 18 and 19.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, a non-Government charity, has kept a watch on the increasing stats (the numbers are up eight per cent from 2000) and wanted to do something about it.
Enter the latest campaign to offer the morning after pill for free in December.
The website introduces the service:
“He’s hot, he lights you up inside, you can’t switch it off and before you know it, the sparks are flying….
The thing is, we see more women with an unplanned pregnancy in January than any other time of the year. We don’t want you to be one of them. Getting hold of the ‘Morning After Pill’ over Christmas can be difficult so it’s useful to have it before you need it.”
The service has been experiencing high demand in the United Kingdom.
With a poster campaign (above) which asks ‘Getting turned on this Christmas?’ above fairy-light renditions of the word ‘sex’ and a website address ‘Santa Comes’ the campaign has also been accused of being ‘filthy’ and sending the wrong message about safe sex and prevention.
So the question is, does offering something of a safeguard make women safer, or does it give them a false sense of security?
According to The Telegraph:
“Josephine Quintavalle, of the ProLife Alliance, described the campaign as “incredibly vulgar”.
She said: “It trivialises women’s sexuality. This scheme isn’t about making women responsible; it will lead to them exposing themselves to more risks.”
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[British Pregnancy Advisory Service] BPAS said the service was vital at a time when many surgeries and pharmacies would be closed and because chemists’ shops charged up to £25 for the emergency contraceptive, too expensive for some women.
Some high street pharmacies already offer a similar service for a fee but the BPAS service is understood to be the first not to charge.
Chemists’ have been allowed to sell the morning after pill without a prescription to over-16s since 2001.
Last year almost 250,000 doses were issued in England. But recent studies have found that providing the pills has failed to cut rates of conception.
…
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Tracey Forsyth, the [BPAS] charity’s lead contraception nurse, said: “The morning after pill can be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex, but the sooner it is taken the better and having it at home means you are much more likely to take it as soon as you need it.
“Sometimes women worry that requesting the pill in advance makes it look like you are planning on taking chances. In fact the opposite is true – making sure you have a back-up to help prevent an unwanted pregnancy is making sure nothing is left to chance.”
The service itself is pretty straight forward. Women who would like a pack, which also includes condoms and supporting information, just register on the website and wait for the pack to be sent to them.
So, what do you think? Do you use the morning after pill?
Comments
67 Comments so far
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Is it just me or is the snappy-ness of this controversy opening up the actual issue for all to see? Something like- You think this mediocre government ad is shocking? How about abortion and the affect it has on the lives of thousands of women and MEN each year. Sheesh.
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This ad may just save the bright future of a 16 year old girl.
Not disgusting if you ask me.
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England has the same problem with their “stats” that Australia does…
Does anyone remember the Australian Pollie who got into trouble a few years back for citing that “Australian women have X number of abortions!” and then everyone hitting back at him with this MAJOR fact:
* A Dilate/Curette has the EXACT same procedure identification as a Termination so you can’t seperate the abortions from the miscarriages *
What the figures AREN’T showing (actually, what the JOURNALISTS aren’t adding to the articles) is that the number they’re bandying around so freely is actually the sum total of all D&C’s – including miscarriage, foetus-retrieval for chromosonal testing, hystoroscopies, laparoscopies, or even the annual D&C some women have to have due to PCOS or Endometriosis (sp).
So maybe don’t judge it as 190000 abortions…
It might actually be closer to
* 90000 miscarriages
* 40000 medical operations
* 1000 MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED abortions
* 50000 abortions
(Granted – I just made those figures up based on the old 1 in 4 is miscarriage, 1 in 5 women have PCOS, etc… but they’re probably closer to the truth than 190000 abortions!
As someone who has experienced not one, not two, but FOURTEEN D&C’s over the last 12yrs (6 of which were for foetus-retrieval post-miscarriage), it really p*sses me off to see journalists bandy around figures that are not accurate – figures they cite as abortions but that my MISCARRIAGES have added to.
The thing everyone needs to keep in mind here is the population size difference. There are 31 MILLION women in the UK. So even if it WAS 190000 abortions – that’s still only 0.6% of the population! Pretty good odds when you think about it…
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Fantastic.
So. When is this going to happen in Australia?
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This idea is good! Yeah it’s a bit full on, but I’ll take the morning after pill over an abortion any day. Condoms break, the MAP is a lifesaver. Wish I’d had a backup in Greece, trying to explain what I wanted using a phrase book and hand actions!
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Oh god, I needed one in Italy and lo and behold, after 30 mins desperately trying to hand action what I wanted, the pharmacist caught on and I was told I needed a prescription…
Oh man.
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I know this will sound judgmental but I feel like the stats on teenage abortions are there to be shocking and make you think “that shouldn’t be happening to teenagers” but over 150 000 women over 19? Accidents do happen but 150 000 accidents for adult women who would be expected to have knowledge of contraception?! I think the morning after pill is great but I’m curious about the reasons behind such a large number of adult abortions, it’s judgmental I know it’s just a bit harder to understand the reasons?!
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I like the ad. Sometimes I wish I’d had one in my pocket… but not often, I love my son!
A wee word of warning, it is better to take it sooner not later. I had one of those: ‘The earth didn’t move but the condom broke’ experiences, many years ago.
Couldn’t go to the doc the day after so went the day after that and got a big ticking off from the doc.
Morning after pill didn’t work! Son born 9 months later. All fine and jolly and he’s now 14.
He’s a forceful character, two forms of contraception was never gonna hold him back.
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If you’re prepared enough to get the morning-after pill in advance can you not be prepared enough to buy condoms or the pill instead??
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Hang on – not everyone can take the pill long term….
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I’m not on the pill, have just chosen not to be. My hubby and I rely on condoms , which have worked successfully for the last 14 years. But if one of those suckers breaks I’ll be heading for the MAP asap.
Now you have me thinking though – what if it happens while we’re overseas without a chemist in sight ? Maybe I need to be prepared myself and do a little pre holiday shopping.
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but you can’t be prepared for a condom breaking…..
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Yeah, that’s true. I think it would probably be a good idea to have it there as a back-up plan, I’d just be concerned about people being more careless like ‘oh I don’t need to be as careful because I have the morning-after pill’ I don’t know how common that would be though
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I’ll be prepared by stocking up on the MAP before the holidays – just as the ad recommends !
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I think this is the wrong way around. I would rather see a big campaign about safe sex this season using condoms to protect against disease and pregnancy (this campaign does not seem to be aimed at couples, more casual sex over the holidays). Then is small print in can say ‘oh and by the way the morning after pill is free at the chemist this month on the PBS’. Stress safe sex primarily, not the morning after pill. This ad reads like a first resort not a last resort.
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It’s just a high strength contraceptive pill so the morality is no different to taking the daily pill. My concern would be for women taking it at home for the first time without prior medical consultation regarding possible side effects (nausea, bleeding etc). I think if you’ve understood the twofold importance of using condoms in the first place (pregnancy and STIs), having this back up is unlikely to change your thinking. There will always be those that don’t heed medical advice and will resort to the MAP as an easy fix but I think they’re the people that won’t use condoms anyway.
I can’t imagine the panic and anxiety if I realised my contraception had failed and then couldn’t get access to the MAP in time due to holiday closures. I had a close call at uni but thankfully had quick access to student medical services – that was stressful enough. Much rather women deal with the MAP than an unwanted pregnancy.
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The latest morning after pill doesn’t have the same effects it used to years ago. I have taken it a few times over the last 6 months just to be on the safe side as my husband is on the waiting list for a vasectomy and condoms just aren’t reliable enough for me sometimes. I would be devastated if I was to get pregnant again (3 children) so I needed to be double sure it didn’t happen. I had no nausea/bleeding or any side effect what so ever. I’m not sure if this is the case for everybody but the same was the case for a friend of mine. I say give them out readily for free and its not any more morally wrong than taking the pill and it would reduce the amount of abortions I’m sure.
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I haven’t been in that situation myself, but I think it’s a great initiative. It’s like leaving a key under a pot plant – you might never use it, but it’s good to know it’s there.
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Interesting timing…I am watching the news (in the US) right now…the latest issue here is that the FDA had approved plans for Plan B (their brand name for the MAP) to be available on the shelves next to the condoms. A (female) senator has completely overridden this decision, leaving the current situation, which sees Plan B available over the counter for those 17 years and older, and under 17s have to go to the doctor and get a prescription.
I’m not sure I agree with a drug of this nature being available on shelves for all, but I’m not sure I agree with requiring under 17s to get a prescription when everyone else doesn’t require it, especially given the reasoning. Apparently (according to the senator) something happens between the ages of 16 and 17 that means that 16 year olds can’t read instructions properly. Yet they obviously worked out how to have sex!
Also interesting is that the age of consent here is 18. So why is 17 the cutoff for the MAP?
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Made me laugh & seriously consider signing up. I’m exactly in their target market.
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i like it . and this is kind of crude but its like an emergency sex kit
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this would have been great a couple of months ago. i was on the mini pill after breastfeeding and the room for error on that pill is just huge if you dont take it in the 3 hr window your not protected for the week BEFORE either! i wish i had of thought of buying the morning after pill in advance it would have relieved alot of stress for me and my husband.
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I don’t think it’s disgusting at all. I think it’s perfectly aimed at the people it is intended for (younger women). And I think it’s a great idea. It gives you a backup plan in case something unexpected happens (like some cute boy at a party). It doesn’t promote promescuity and it doesn’t trivialise sex.
I’ve also taken the morning after pill before, and I thought it was fine. I’d take it again in an instant if I had too.
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I thinks it briliant. Read the stats. The issue already exists!
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*sigh* stuff like this does make me wonder whether the ‘pro-life lobby’ people are actually ‘pro-women having sex must have babies unless the way they use contraception adheres to the way WE think they should use contraception lobby’.
They really need to decide what they want women to do. Contraception (emergency or otherwise), or abortion?? hhmmm??
I would have thought that being proactive, and being prepared (dib dib dib dob dob dob!) would be the OPPOSITE of trivialising a woman’s sexuality? are they against the pill in the first place? cos that’s really the same thing….taking it just. in. case.
sheesh those people annoy me!
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I took the Morning After Pill once (about a week after I’d lost my virginity), about 4 hours after contraception failed. The week after taking the pill, I experienced horrible headaches and constant nausea. A couple of days after that I started to bleed to the point where I’d stand up (wearing two maternity/night time pads – they’d be soaked in less than an hour) and blood would GUSH out like I’d been stabbed in the vagina! I was frequently dizzy from all the bleeding, tired and emotional and strongly considered the fact that I might be dying. It took me 4 days of bleeding to seek medical help, and the only thing the doctor did was prescribe me Levlen ED (hormonal birth control) and after that it took another 4 days to reduce the bleeding to that of a regular period flow.
I will never EVER take that pill again – it was far too harsh on my body. If you’re considering being lazy and having sex sans condom and/or the pill, thinking of using The Morning After Pill as a back up – stop. You’re being ridiculous. The only reason I used the pill is because our condom broke. Do not use the MAP as a primary source of contraception. You don’t just take the pill and that’s the end of it. The effects can last for months afterwards.
Wrap it before you tap it!
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ha – wrap it before you tap it- i like!
i also like –
don’t be silly and wrap your willy,
if its not on its not on
if you don’t wanna be a mother, make sure he wears a rubber
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not everyone has the same reaction from the same medication. you got a bad lot that doesnt mean you have to be so judgemental.
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I have taken it and had none of the ill effects you describe. Painless and no issues whatsoever.
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I think this is bloody brilliant.
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Obviously the ad is edgy, that’s the point. It is getting people talking and spreading awareness of an option that is available to women, should they need it. Of course we should be concerned that people may use it as an alternative to safe sex, but that isn’t always the case.
I’m married with two children and I took the morning after pill once, early this year. My period had just recently come back for the first time after the birth of my last child and I hadn’t decided what form of birth control I was going to use yet. When I ovulated unexpectedly (irregular cycles) the day after having sex I knew that it was highly likely that could result in pregnancy.
Again, I already have two children and at that time I couldn’t see myself coping with three. Thankfully I had the option of the morning after pill, and now I have an IUD so I’m set for 5 years or until I decide to have it removed. Thank goodness for options!
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And I’m sorry- do you all have sex with the ONLY worry being getting pregnant?
Yes, OK if you’re with a long term partner STI’s won’t be on your list of worries. But if you’re having casual sex.. really? you ONLY worry about pregnancy?
So having this pill will make you think Ohh no need for condoms now!
Are we truly that stupid and naieve?
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Great and fabulous idea!
For all the “why don’t they just give free condoms” people- how many people do you think might have a pissed poke over christmas/new year?
How many of them do you think would remember to use a condom?
For those who do NOT- isn’t it better that they have the option, when they wake with a crashing hangover and it allll comes back, to go to their medicine cupboard and take the morning after pill? Or if they cannot remember if they did or didn’t use a condom? And if they weren’t sure that condom did not break?
It is not forcing this pill on anyone.
In answer to the question…
I have used it- I was 28, been told since I was 13 that I was infertile, with a boyfriend and shock horror the condom broke. I went and got the morning after pill (Now I had the first Dr I went to REFUSE to give it to me as I had not been raped (!!???!!!))
I took it. Thought nothing more about it- until 6 weeks later when I found I was pregnant. I was advised to have an abortion due to teratogenic medications I was taking. I miscarried the next day.
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I think it would help if it was called Emergency Contraception (which is on the packs you can get here in Aus) because lots of people would take the name literally and assume they were too late to take it if it was later than the morning after if you know what I mean!
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I’ve used it twice.
The first time was when I was 21 and too poor to fill my pill prescription for the week leading up to it.
It was with my boyfriend, and I just wasn’t thinking. Back in 2001 you still had to see a doctor for the script, and my car had recently died and I had to get a lift because neither he nor I had a car. My boyfriend didn’t have any money either and I had to borrow money from a friend to buy the morning after pill. What great parents we would have made!
The second time was more recently, when I was taking a break from the pill and the condom came off. Rookie mistake, really.
But I was grateful to be able to go straight to a chemist and afford to pay for the morning after pill immediately.
What worries me about having the morning after pill already in stock in their own medicine cabinet is that girls and women may think having unsafe sex is okay. There are so many diseases to be cautious of.
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I think it will capture the attention of a lot of people – the more the better. So it’s awesome.
As for free back up morning after pill – fabulous idea. Even better that it comes with condom and education.
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Anyone who has spent time on assorted birth control pills will realise how strong emergency contraception is.
125 micrograms of levonorgestrel makes me throw up the first day I take my pill again after a period. How is 750 micrograms going to make you feel?? I don’t have a problem with people having it at home ‘just in case’, surely it is going to be more successful if used early, but more should be made of the fact that it probably isn’t an easy a fix as some people think.
The question posed (does it make women safer, or give them a false sense of security) cannot be answered for everyone. The answer will depend on the person.
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The morning after pill made me very sick with vomitting.
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Is it the same as the normal pill, in that vomiting makes it less effective?
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It was a very long time ago but I do remember vomiting the day after I took it. I think it might be the very strong hormone working through your system like Rach suggested.
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I think what makes you sick is the changing levels of hormones in your bloodstream, kind of like morning sickness in pregnancy. In other words, it makes you sick because you’ve already absorbed it, not because it’s still in your stomach. Hope that makes sense!
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if you vomit it up you have to re take it as it is not effective, I think this is straight after you take it I dont know if it counts if it is the next day…
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pretty sure in the instructions it says to go see your chemist if you vomit.
In my experience it has never made me sick
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Don’t quote me on it, but I assume the same is true of the morning-after pill as for the ordinary pill…
Like Rach, the ordinary dosing made me violently ill for the first 1-4 days, then nauseated for the rest of the month’s active pills. My endocrinologist told me it’s because some people’s liver just can’t cope with the hormone dosage, because the amount in the pills is very high so that even a small amount makes it into the bloodstream. So with that, by the time I was puking, the tablet was no longer in the stomach but had already been broken down there & was in the process of being dealt with by the liver. Hence, throwing up resulted in no loss of dosage (but it still wasn’t a feasible option for me & now I’m on a different hormone administration method that goes straight into the bloodstream in tiny amounts, bypassing the liver).
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Ahh ok I understand, thanks for clearing that up everyone. It just seemed like a horrible contradiction to me, that they’d developed a method of contraception designed to be used as a last resort that couldn’t even be absorbed properly by the body due to vomiting. Cheers
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I have a sealed Morning After Pill in my medicine draw at home. I know it’s there, I don’t plan to use it, but god I feel more secure knowing that if anything happened I would have an instant back up available.
This campaign might not be accepted by our current uptight and politically correct society but if the morning after pill can be made available to the people that need it (women!) then I say good on them so acknowledging there is a problem and making an effort to do something about it.
How many of you have a child born in September/October or have a birthday in this month? Accidental pregnancy over the holiday period WILL result in a baby 9 months later. Some may not be in the position to have a child and they shouldn’t be shamed or denied the right to take immediate action should risk of pregnancy occur.
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Hmm, my youngest son was born in September. I blame New Year’s Eve.
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My daughter was due November 14. You can bet your ass what I blame….
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That’s the best, i wonder how long it will take for your daughter to figure out
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I was born in Sept and as I’m now 38 I tease my parents….. too much Christmas cheer. My.sister has always been referred to as dads birthday present.
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By and large I’d guess that society does accept this campaign, but the British version of the ACL is banging drums to make it seem like more object than really do.
Rage, manufactured or not, still sells papers.
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The morning after pill should be as a last resort. Shouldn’t the government be promoting safe sex overall? Why don’t they just give out condoms for free over Christmas? I’d love to know what the stats are for STI’s after December/January. I can see that they’re attempting to promote safe sex with the giving of the condoms as well as the morning after pill but I think that’s giving a mixed message. If a condom is used correctly, there will be no need for the pill. While it is important that the morning after pill be readily available to women I think it’s irresponsible to give them out ‘just in case’. Also isn’t it putting the responsibility for unwanted pregnancy solely on women? Because I always thought that it took two….
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Well I rely on myself for contraception not someone else because worse case I’m the one who will end up pregnant with my life turned upside down/with an std not the guy!
Condom do break- and some guys are sneaky. I’ve only used the morning after pill once- I made the guy put on a condom and saw him do it yet halfway through saw the condom lying on the bed so I marched myself down to the chemist the next morning and deleted said guys number.
Accidents happen- that’s why we have the morning after pill!
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I know that we need the morning after pill & I’m all for it being readily available I just don’t think that giving it away over the Christmas period sends the right message.
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Took the condom off half way through ? What an ignorant creep !
Yes, you really do need to look after yourself with people like that around.
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Oops that wasn’t supposed to be anon!
Haha yes a total creep- my first ‘holiday romance’ which left me trying to explain to a chemist that only spoke Greek that I wanted the morning after pill…awkward
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I heard an ABC radio news story about this and the argument was made that we all carry a spare tyre in our cars but that doesn’t make us more likely to want to drive over glass. We carry it as back-up if something unfortunate happens.
It’s crucial to take the morality out of this.
Condoms break.
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I like that analogy. It’s important to keep ourselves protected.
I’ve never used to morning after pill but I would if other forms of contraception failed me.
That said – I’m 26 and if I fell pregnant now I would probably keep the baby unless it was a dire situation. But, everyone should be able to have a choice.
Being pro-choice does not mean you are pro-abortion.
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“condoms break”….and sometimes, when we are 16 and hell bent on getting with some dude we like that we are stupid we don’t even use one. Thank goodness for the morning after pill. Not speaking from experience or anything
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Bingo to the max.
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Very glad to hear it also includes condoms. Morning after STI prevention not so simple.
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Those statistics are interesting, I’d like to know more. So of the 189,574 abortions performed in the UK in 2010, 151,305 of them were to women aged over 19. While teenage pregnancy is clearly an issue, I’d like to see the breakdown of age groups for the rest of the abortions. How many were to women over 30? How many to women who already thought they had a “completed family”? It’s very interesting.
For the record, I’m pro choice. Ideally women wouldn’t need abortions but I want them available for when they are needed.
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That was really interesting to me too. You always think about abortions in terms of a poor high school girl not wanting to ruin her life, but clearly they are something that all different types of women might need.
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What a super sensible campaign, especially as the pack include preventative contraception as well as the morning after pill.
Can’t understand why the right-to-lifer would be against reducing the number of abortions?
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Because some people believe that life starts at conception.
(Of course, THOSE people are against any pill, not just the morning after pill.) Really, the morning after pill isn’t any different to most of the other contraceptive pills. In my mind, it IS better than a later abortion – because you take it when the foetus IS still just a blob of cells. But that’s just my opinion.
Arguments about the pill aside, I’m not sure if this campaign sends the right message. Although, maybe it does. Preparation is important. A baby is not the only thing you can get from unprotected sex, and some of the other consequences can ruin the rest of your life too.
But then again, sometimes risky sexual behaviour can make you pretty damn miserable for emotional reasons as well. I wonder how many people have seriously regretted having sex while drunk over Christmas – even if they didn’t get pregnant or catch anything??
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Since the modern morning after pill prevents conception (it isn’t an abortion), then that doesn’t apply.
But if they oppose all methods that even prevent conception (like condoms), then her stance makes sense.
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General lack of science education. I went to a high-performing Anglican girls school, and though we had a lot of students against abortion, they still knew enough about reproductive health to differentiate between something like the pill/condoms and a termination.
As for the ‘every sperm is sacred’ lot, I’m not sure whether they’re really as misognyist as they seem. I think they just really like babies- to the extent that they believe that having a baby will on it’s own magically fix everything that’s going wrong in someone’s life, will keep the bailiffs from the door and prevent an errant partner from walking out, which we know is not the case. I don’t think they appreciate that behind every happy family is a lot of hard work and in many cases, years of financial planning. I’m 26 and my husband and I would be able to have a child now, if I fell pregnant tomorrow- but up until about 6 months ago I would have had to terminate, no question.