Weinberg senior Jane Hutchinson decided to go on birth control last winter to regulate her period.
A week after she went on it, she had sex.
Hutchinson said she didn’t think anything of it until she spoke to friends. It was only then that she began wondering if she needed to be on the pill for a full month before it would be reliable.
The morning-after pill seemed to be the best option for Hutchinson.
“It’s not an easy decision by any means,” Hutchinson said. “It’s psychologically a big deal. But I knew I was not at the point in my life to handle the possibility of being pregnant.”
No significant number of Northwestern students have had abortions or have had partners who have aborted a pregnancy, according to a survey of 319 students. Almost one in six of them, however, have used or have had their partners use the morning-after pill.
Plan B, the most commonly sold emergency contraceptive locally, is a high dose of estrogen that comes in the form of two pills and must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex to be effective. Osco Pharmacist Tom Hagerty explained that the pill helps to prevent implantation of the sperm in the egg, therefore preventing conception. It comes with some side effects, though, including headaches, nausea and breast pain.
Hutchinson said she did experience physical side effects, but there were also emotional ones not written on the warning label.
“In the end, sometimes you feel like a slut just because you used it,” she said.
Plan B received FDA approval in 1999. Six percent of U.S. women aged 18-44 reported using emergency contraception in 2003, according to a 2005 Women’s Health Policy Fact Sheet published by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The number of NU students who reported having taken emergency contraception seems higher than average, said Dr. Marc Feldstein, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Feldstein said he believes this is because many college students do not see a gynecologist regularly and may not be on birth control.
In his experience, the number of prescriptions he has written for emergency contraception is “at most” one in ten women, he said.
Hutchinson said after she made her decision to use emergency contraceptive, she was not entirely sure where to get the pill. She first called St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. Because it is a Catholic hospital, hospital officials said they abide by Catholic directives and will not prescribe or give out the morning-after pill.
Because there is only a 72-hour window, Hutchinson said after getting turned away, obtaining the pill in time was a “big concern.”
Hutchinson ended up calling her gynecologist and explaining the situation. Her gynecologist called in the prescription to a local Walgreens, and Hutchinson went after class to pick it up.
Hutchinson had another option, said Sue Whiting, clinical practice manager at NU health services: set up an appointment with Searle Student Health Service. She said any student thinking of using an emergency contraceptive just needs to schedule an appointment and meet with the doctor. From there, she can get a prescription that can be filled at Searle’s pharmacy. Plan B is available to all students, regardless of their insurance plan, for $20.
Promoting emergency birth control pills to help lower the rate of unwanted pregnancy in Evanston is the goal of the city’s Department of Health and Human Services, said Kay Khawprasert, a former health nurse for the department. Between Jan. 1 and June 30 last year, the health department provided 153 emergency birth control pills.
Hagerty, who works at Osco Drug off of Chicago Avenue in Evanston, said the pharmacy has filled about three prescriptions for Plan B in each of the past few months.
Last April Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued an emergency ordering forcing pharmacists to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception. In February last year, there were allegations that a pharmacist refused to fill two women’s prescriptions for the morning-after pill at a pharmacy in downtown Chicago.
Hutchinson said she “grossly disagrees” with pharmacists who refuse to give out emergency contraception on what they call moral grounds. Feldstein agreed, saying misinformation is a problem.
“Emergency contraception is clearly medically safe,” he said. “And it clearly reduces the need for medical abortions.”
Blagojevich’s order means there is now a requirement in the state that if a woman goes to a drug store with a valid prescription for contraceptives, the pharmacy must make sure that prescription is filled. If a pharmacy does not supply any contraceptives at all – such as the pharmacy at St. Francis Hospital – then the law does not apply.
There have been four formal complaints against pharmacies since the law was put in effect, said Sue Hofer, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations, which works to investigate violations of the regulations. Two of the complaints were against Osco stores and two against Walgreens stores. Last fall Osco admitted it had violated the rules and agreed to pay a fine of $37,500. Hearings against Walgreens are scheduled for February and March.
“What (the state) wants is to make sure is that when a woman walks into a drug store she can walk out with her pills with no hassles, no lectures and no delays,” Hofer explained.
Although Hutchinson describes herself as “generally pro-choice,” she said if she found herself pregnant she would put the baby up for adoption.
She said she is concerned that some parties in the political debate see women using the morning-after pill as merely a fail-safe.
But she also said even if it’s not always the easiest option, her advice to NU women is to “first and foremost” make sure to have safe sex.
“I feel like the morning-after pill is the last thing you can do to feel as responsible as possible” Hutchinson said. “A human life shouldn’t be the consequence if there’s something you can do to prevent it.”
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