Dispensing Death

Written By: Sarah Waites

Life Dynamics Staff

For years, reproductive health organizations waged a war to make Plan B, (a.ka. the Morning After Pill) available over the counter.

If, during that time, pro- lifers had said that the abortion lobby would soon be selling them in vending machines on college campuses, the left would have dismissed this warning as some “crazy right wing conspiracy.”

But in 2010, soon after a federal judge ordered the FDA to make morning-after drugs available to women 17 and older without a prescription, Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania became the first in the nation to have them available in campus vending machines. Then in 2013, the FDA removed the age requirement and, since then, at least 14 other universities have jumped on board including, Stanford, Columbia, Brandeis, and Purdue – with more on the horizon.

Pro-choice and women’s rights activists are painting this as a revolution in women’s healthcare, rather than the careless dispensing of a drug with potential for abuse and complications.

Accompanying all of this is the dishonesty of the “reproductive health movement” about how Plan B works. Google Plan B and the first result is from Planned Parenthood that reads “How Plan B Works & Side Effects.” But the page has absolutely zero information on how it works – and the Plan B website, isn’t much better.

So how does it work?

Plan B uses Levonorgestrel to temporarily delay the release of an egg from the ovary, but its effectiveness depends on where the woman is in her cycle. The FDA states that while it may prevent fertilization, in some cases it can “prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb.” In other words, in cases where Plan B doesn’t prevent pregnancy, it can end it. So despite the protestations of the abortion lobby, it CAN cause abortion and could be classified as an abortifacient – making it the first abortifacient to be sold like a bag of Doritos.

If you do some digging, you will find that the abortion lobby is pulling the strings on this Plan B vending machine idea.

In an article by Refinery29, it was reported that NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland “invited campus feminists to join their efforts to get 24-7 access for emergency contraception on campus at all of Maryland’s public universities.” Additionally, someone associated with NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland “worked with student leaders at the University of Maryland on their vending machine efforts.” At Brandeis, the student group Brandeis Pro-Choice received a $5,000 grant from Planned Parenthood Generation Action to fund their vending machine project plus the cost of a year’s supply of Plan B.

But none of this compares to what happened when a Planned Parenthood student activist group looked to bring this campaign to the University of Southern Maine. They found that state law prevented the sale of over-the-counter medicine in vending machines. But with the help of sympathetic politicians, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, the Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund, the ACLU of Maine and other members of the abortion lobby, the law was changed so that over the counter drugs could be sold in vending machines. Now Planned Parenthood of Northern New England says that they are working with their chapters and supporters at Bates and Maine College of Art to bring “wellness vending machines” to those campuses.

My point is, if this campaign hasn’t come to your university or alma matter yet, it is probably on the way – and it’s not too soon to start fighting back.