A very, very good question

I think Dawn Eden asks the question of the day and I’d love to see some reporter toss this out to President Bush or his FDA chief:

So, riddle me this: Why do oral contraceptives still require a prescription, seeing as they’re so safe that you can take 40 times the prescribed amount anytime you want?

She’s referring to the so-called “emergency contraception”, which causes a spontaneous abortion if taken soon after conception, that the FDA just approved for over-the-counter purchasing, i.e. without a prescription.

These abortifacient pills contain up to 40 times the hormones available in regular birth control pills, and they still require a prescription.

So if it’s okay to take a massive overdose without a doctor’s prescription, why does a regular dose require one? The obvious answer is that the hormones in contraceptives must be carefully monitored by a doctor because it can play havoc with a woman’s body, but because easily attainable abortions are a political necessity, such considerations trump women’s health.

Update: Victor Morton asks the same question and then goes into quite a bit more, good analysis.  Meanwhile Rod Dreher says that Mattingly’s Law applies to both the political decision and the media coverage: No matter what, “The Sexual Revolution must always win.”

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