Plan B pills offer women safe backup.

Byline: Elizabeth Pownal, William Balsom, and Sarah Hendrickson For The Register-Guard

If your birth control failed you or you failed to use your birth control, you can do something about it. Pregnancy should be a welcome family event, not the result of failed birth control. So what can you do? And why have you not heard much about it?

Although it has been available for more than 30 years, emergency contraception has been among the best-kept medical secrets. While standard birth control pills are used before sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy, emergency contraception will prevent pregnancy after sexual intercourse. It is an excellent option when regular birth control fails. If emergency contraception were more available, we could greatly reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and the need for abortions.

Nearly half of unintended pregnancies are a result of failed birth control. The consequences are significant, and we all pay the price. Unintended pregnancies can put the mother at greater risk for depression and physical abuse. According to the American Medical Women's Association, the child of an unintended pregnancy is at greater risk of being born with a low birth weight, dying in the first year of life, and being abused or neglected. Approximately half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion, resulting in approximately 1.6 million abortions annually in the United States.

Emergency contraception is not the same as mifpristone, otherwise known as Ru-486 or `the abortion pill." Emergency contraceptive pills work before implantation and are considered by the National Institutes of Health and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to be a contraceptive device, not a form of abortion.

The most commonly used and most effective medication is trademarked under the name Plan B. It contains two doses of the hormone progestroneis taken as soon as possible after intercourse and again 12 hours later. Plan B prevents 85 percent of pregnancies that would have otherwise occurred. Although it has been called the `morning after pill," it is effective if used within 72 hours of sexual intercourse - the earlier the better.

If a pregnant woman mistakenly takes emergency contraception, there will be no harm to her or her fetus. Because emergency contraception is not continuously used, it has no effect on other medical conditions such as heart and blood vessel disease, blood clotting, liver disease, etc.

Women in the United Kingdom, Norway, parts of Canada and other countries can obtain emergency contraception without a prescription. In the United States, some doctors and nurse practitioners will give patients a prescription without an office visit. Many health care professionals are offering a prescription to women who are using any birth control method so they can have emergency contraception on hand if needed.

Washington state and California have pilot programs in which pharmacists can dispense emergency contraception without a current prescription. The Oregon Board of Pharmacy currently does not allow this.

Some national pharmacy chains, including Wal-Mart, refuse to stock emergency contraceptive pills. As one of the world's largest distributors of pharmaceuticals, its decision hits hardest one of the most vulnerable sectors of our population: rural women who live in economic hardship.

In a recent survey in the Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, all doctors agreed that emergency contraception was effective, but few talked about it with their patients, and even fewer prescribed it.

Health providers, no matter what their religious affiliation or belief system, are ethically responsible for providing medical information in a clear, unbiased manner so patients can make up their own minds whether they would want to use emergency contraception. Sexually active youth should get clear, unbiased information on the use and availability of emergency contraception. If cost is an issue, Planned Parenthood and county health departments have a federal grant that makes Plan B available at no cost to qualifying low-income patients. Sexually active women may want to ask their physicians about emergency contraception.

Emergency contraception is a safe and effective backup for any birth control method. It should be easily available to anyone who needs it.

Elizabeth Pownall is a board member of Planned Parenthood Health Services of Southwestern Oregon. Dr. Sarah Hendrickson is a local physician. Dr. William Balsom is a local family practice physician with the Oregon Medical Group.