The Food and Drug Administration’s refusal to approve the “morning after pill,” or Plan B, for over-the-counter sale has troubled some Northwestern students and health providers, who say the availability of emergency contraception is a major issue for college students.

A NARAL Pro-Choice America representative will likely talk about Plan B when she speaks Oct. 25 to Northwestern College Feminists about women’s reproductive issues, said Rupal Vora, the group’s president.

“There are certain situations in which a woman shouldn’t be forced to receive a doctor’s approval,” said Vora, a Weinberg senior.

Plan B, approved by the FDA in 1999 for prescription use, is a hormone pill taken by women after unprotected sex. It reduces chances of pregnancy by 89 percent. But the FDA said this August that the drug might not unsafe for girls under 16, and the agency will not allow it to be sold over the counter.

Plan B is the fourth emergency contraceptive Searle Student Health Service has offered since 1985 and has the fewest side effects, said Kathy Parker, a women’s health nurse practitioner at Searle. But it is only available by prescription and access could be improved, she said.

The sale of Plan B is fine as long as it doesn’t induce abortion, said Weinberg junior Asahel Church, the service chairman of NU Students for Life.

“Insofar as a fertilized embryo would be destroyed, we would be opposed to it,” he said.

The drug primarily prevents fertilization, but Plan B can prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb, according to the FDA.

Greater availability is especially important for college students, said Medill sophomore Lyz Keating, College Feminists’ publicity and fundraising chairwoman. It is embarrassing for NU students to access emergency contraceptives at Searle, she said.

“There needs to be a way for a girl to walk into Searle and not feel like everyone in the room knows what she’s there for,” Keating said. “When you’re in that situation, you can feel like you’re being vilified.”

Keating said health services could still be improved. Searle doesn’t have a separate entrance for students seeking Plan B, and selling the drug over the counter would help ensure student anonymity, she said.

Vora said making Plan B available without prescription would help victims of rape and sexual assault, who may have problems asking for emergency contraception in the 120-hour window it is effective, she said.

“It’s such a traumatic experience that it’s absurd to think that a woman is just going to go up to a doctor and say, ‘Hey, I was raped, give me some medicine,'” Vora said.

FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan declined to comment on how not selling Plan B over the counter affects college students.

Responding to FDA concerns that Plan B might not be safe for women younger than 16, the drug’s maker, Barr Labs, requested that the drug be cleared for over-the-counter sale to women older than 16 while remaining prescription-only for younger women. But the FDA announced Aug. 26 that it was withholding approval out of concern that the plan might not be enforceable.

Students who need to access Plan B can schedule appointments or walk into Searle during business hours, Parker said. They are always seen the same day, and often right when they arrive, she said. Prescriptions can be filled at the Searle pharmacy or can be phoned into a local pharmacy.

A physician always is on call for students to reach during emergencies.

But Parker said convenience could still be improved. Pharmacies open 24 hours a day aren’t within walking distance, she said.

More accessibility is important for all women, Parker said.

“Don’t you think it would be nice to walk into a pharmacy and access emergency contraception when you felt it was necessary?” she said.

The FDA has opened the issue of over-the-counter sale of Plan B for public comment. Comments can be submitted at www.fda.gov/

dockets/ecomments.

Reach Lauren Pond at [email protected].