So now we have the results of that recent Zogby push-poll on abortion:
Q30. Do you think that the morning-after abortion pill, commercially known as Plan B, should be available over the counter or should it be available only by prescription?Over the counter 44%
Prescription only 31%
Not available at all 19%
Not sure 7%
The poll was commissioned by the O'Leary Report/Associated Television News, whose president, Brad O'Leary, is a Bush "Pioneer," RNC regent, and fundraiser for a slew of conservative senators, including George Allen, Bill Frist and Sam Brownback.
In addition to the misleading Plan B question, there's this:
Q16. The United States prohibits foreign aid money being used for abortions in countries where the abortion is done because of the sex of the fetus. Do you agree or disagree with this prohibition?
I might suggest the question be rephrased as "The United States prohibits international organizations that receive U.S. family planning funds from using their own, non-U.S. funds to provide legal abortion services or even provide accurate medical information regarding abortion. Do you agree or disagree with this prohibition?"
Or what about this one:
Q23. A. Parents are responsible for the welfare and health of their children. A parent should be notified if their minor daughter is seeking to have an abortion. B. There are lots of reasons why a minor might not want to tell her parents that she is seeking an abortion. There should be no mandatory parental notification for a minor seeking an abortion.
Because you can't believe that parents are responsible for their children's welfare and at the same time oppose parental notification for abortion.
Anti-choicers are already chirping about the results of the poll.
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But 59 percent agree that abortion ends a human life while only 29 percent disagree. Also, 50 percent of Americans believe life begins at conception while just 19 percent say life begins at birth.
The ambiguities continue! Do we expect that thirty thousand people can intuitively agree on what "human" and "life" mean as well as whether that's the relevant factor in worth?
Interesting that even when you call it an "abortion pill" (UGH! Enough already!), 75% of respondants still thought it should be available. These people are clearly NOT representing the majority.
That's interesting, I wondered what you were all talking about (as an outsider) ... then suddenly I realised itwas the emotive use of the word abortion in the question ... funny hadn't even noticed. I suppose, obviously, because I know that is simply interupts ovulation ... and the fact that I view the term abortion in a medical sense, to me it could mean miscarriage.
So the brain-washing had absolutely no impact!
Actually, I'm pretty sure that the morning after pill doesn't interupt ovulation. What it does is prevent the fertilized egg from adhering to the uterus. Or such is my understanding of the drug.
I'm not entirely sure that EC should be sold over the counter, but I do think that -as in California and in several other states now- it should be available through a pharmacist given the authority to "perscribe" it to those who request it.
Perhaps that is what is meant by OTC, that one needn't have a doctor's perscription in order to obtain it. I usually think of OTC as being something found alongside Ibuprofin and tampons, that anyone can grab off the shelf and take to the check out stand.
My cocern with this would be with men purchasing it after unprotected sex, and putting double the amount in his girlfriend food because it had been more than 72 hours.
As for the Zogby poll, it's no surprise. Didn't some 81% think that Saddam Hussein was involved in the Sept 11th attacks when we first went to war in Iraq? That doesn't make it any less scary, but clearly the masses aren't known for their great minds.
The public should never be given the vote on abortion. So often people vote on things without taking into consideration the consequences. It blows my mind that people who are against abortion tend to support abstinence only education and oppose welfare
Well actually French Kiss according to the FDA:
Plan B acts PRIMARILY by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary (ovulation). It MAY prevent the union of sperm and egg (fertilization). If fertilization does occur, Plan B MAY prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb (implantation). If a fertilized egg is implanted prior to taking Plan B, Plan B will not work.
Here (same thing progestogen) it's over the counter but dispensed by the pharmacist (not off-shelf), who I am sure, would not deliver it to any male in the first place as safety guidelines would be directed at the intended consumer but we DO have free healthcare, which facilitates follow-up if necessary or desired. But as no products of pregnancy would exist there are not likely to be any problems. Quite different to RU-486 which should be followed-up as products of pregnancy can cause life-threatening complications.
Comparisons are odious .... Iraq: only Americans ever thought that they should go into Iraq ... propaganda and global scientific info are entirely different mechanisms. Such propaganda, historically, has been widely employed with great success in America for many, many decades.
As for "It blows my mind that people who are against abortion tend to support abstinence only education and oppose welfare" agreed, because they are all religious nutters incapable of impartiality and have an entirely other agenda. Perhaps, if you lived elsewhere, you would be able to see this more clearly.
And the FDA site has those extra lines in for political reasons, not scientific ones. There is no clinical evidence that Plan B prevents implantation, and in fact, in theory Plan B should make implantation actually more likely.
I wrote a comment with more of the details behind it, but I can't find it now. I did manage to find Pharyngula's explanation of how it works, if you want to see a lecture from a biologist, complete with pictures.