[Vision2020] Emergency Contraceptives Available at Military Health Facilities

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the February 22, 2010 edition of the Army Times.

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All military health facilities offering emergency contraceptives
By William H. McMichael, Army Times Reporter

Every military treatment facility and health clinic must now stock pills
that can prevent pregnancy if taken within three days of having sex.

The change comes as a result of a recommendation by a committee of Defense
Department physicians and pharmacists. Commonly known as “morning-after
pills,” the drug had been stocked at some, but not all, military
treat­ment facilities, with the decision on whether to do so left up to
local officials.

The Military Health System approved the Pharmacy and Ther­apeutics
Committee’s November decision on Feb. 3, meaning that the pills must now
be stocked in all military treatment facilities, said Cynthia Smith, a
Pentagon spokeswoman. Stocking will begin immediately, Smith said.

That includes bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon says.

The committee’s decision was based on a desire for unifor­mity and did not
reflect any specific direction from the Obama administration, said Marine
Col. Dave Lapan, a Pen­tagon spokesman.

Each service has a policy that supports the availability of emer­gency
contraceptives at military treatment facilities, according to the
committee. But while some facilities provide emergency con­traception over
the counter, others may require a prescription, Smith said.

The pills, which contain the hor­mone levonorgestrel, are known as the
generics Plan B and the newer Plan B One Step, and by the trade name Next
Choice.

Plan B is available over the counter for those age 17 and older; those who
are younger must have a prescription. Military women serving at overseas
locations must get it from a Defense Department dispensary.

The decision reverses a 2002 Bush administration decision to reject a
committee recommenda­tion to make the drug available to military women.

That decision had been partial­ly reversed in 2006 after the Food and Drug
Administration approved Plan B for sale without a prescription. The drug
was then added to the Uniform For­mulary, a list of drugs covered by the
Tricare medical plans but that are optional items to have in stock in
military facilities.

The Pentagon committee voted 13-2 last fall to add it to the Basic Core
Formulary, which is a list of drugs that must be carried at all
full-service treatment facilities. Prior to the Pentagon’s accepting the
committee’s recommendation, Smith said, “virtually all the MTFs and
clinics carried emer­gency contraception drugs already. They could also
stock Plan B or the generic version should they choose to do so.”

Controversy

Although the drug already was widely available, the decision to make it
universally so disappoint­ed anti-abortion advocates, one of whom called
the pill “a dangerous and controversial drug” and said that, in addition
to usage amount­ing to legal abortion, it will “evis­cerate” the
protections afforded military health care providers who are allowed to
decline to participate “directly or indirectly in medical procedures that
they find morally or religiously objectionable.” “It is important to
remember that military members, including health care providers, will not
be able to walk away from their duties because they object to ‘emergency
contraception,’” said Denise Burke of Americans United for Life. “Forced
to violate their consciences, many military providers will leave the
military when their service contracts expire, endangering quality of care
and military readiness.” Abortion rights advocates sup­ported the
decision. “We applaud the Pentagon for ensuring that every woman honorably
serving our country and the spouses of military personnel stationed around
the world will have access to the same basic reproductive health care
available to women in the United States,” said Planned Parenthood
President Cecile Richards. “This latest decision is 
 another step toward
ensuring every woman has the ability to prevent unintended pregnancy and
plan healthy families.” The argument over whether usage amounts to legal
abortion comes down to personal beliefs. The scientific finding, according
to the National Institutes of Health, is that levonorgestrel does not end
pregnancy but rather prevents ovulation or fertilization. The hor­mone
will not end an existing pregnancy, NIH says.

The Pentagon committee does not recommend levonorgestrel as a primary form
of birth control, Smith said. Military treatment facilities also carry
contraceptives.

Availability of military facilities to end pregnancy via abortion is
severely limited. By U.S. law, mil­itary facilities may not perform
abortions “except when the life of the mother would be endangered if the
fetus were carried to term or in the case in which the pregnancy is the
result of an act of rape or incest.” Abortions in the latter case must be
privately funded.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown