After the announcement of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the morning-after contraception pill has emerged as a sought-after purchase for many people worried about access to reproductive health care. Some women bought morning-after contraceptives to prevent their children from having sex after they have had sex. Others are building a small inventory in anticipation of possible restrictions in contraception, as Justice Clarence Thomas suggested in his concurring opinion. Some women stated that purchasing the pills gave them a quick boost of control or power during a difficult time for proponents.
Chrissy Bowen, 51 was sitting on a couch in her Flower Mound (Texas) living room when her husband saw a news message on the screen. It stated that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade. This would soon trigger a ban against the few remaining Texas abortion rights advocates.
After a quick sex session, Bowen hid in the shower and burst into tears. Ms. Bowen then pasted a link to My Choice Emergency Contraceptive into group text chats with her friends. This is a tablet that can last up to three days.
The so-called “morning-after pill” is an emergency contraceptive which prevents ovulation. Megan N. Freeland is the director of health communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. It is different than abortion pills misoprostol or mifepristone which, taken together, can be used to terminate an existing pregnancy.
“I’m buying more,” Ms. Bowen wrote in one chat about the morning-after pills, after noting that she had already purchased a few for her children in May, in response to a leaked draft of the Supreme Court decision published by Politico. “Reminder,” she texted another of the group chats, referencing an earlier discussion about buying the contraceptive. Then, she ordered six more pills for $10 each.
“The rules are the same for both my kids,” said Ms. Bowen, who has a daughter in high school and a son in college. “They’re to let their friends know that we have the pills and if one gets used, we need to replace it with a new one. I didn’t become a crazy buyer hoarding hundreds of pills, and I’m not trying to supply contraception to the whole town. I’m doing this because now abortion won’t be available and I’m worried that this sort of contraception soon won’t be either.”
Ms. Bowen checked on her order the day after the ruling and saw a notice on the Amazon seller’s page: the seller’s inventory had sold out.
As people across the country absorb the news of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal protection of the right to have an abortion, there is a swell of interest and demand for legal options available to people who want to avoid pregnancy. Many women have searched for a way to control their reproductive future and logged onto health care and retail websites to purchase emergency contraceptive pills. These pills are used after sex to prevent pregnancies..
Before rallies and marches could ever be organized, the instant access and ease of the internet offered an outlet. Stix, a online vaginal and reproductive health company, claimed that the demand for Restart (its morning-after pill) increased by more than 600% within 24 hours after the Supreme Court announcement. A pill can be purchased for $38 and has a maximum shelf life of 20 months.
“Seventy-two percent of those people were buying more than one dose,” said Cynthia Plotch, co-CEO along with Jamie Norwood, of Stix.
Retailers are trying supply to keep up. On Friday, Wellspring Meds, the healthcare products website, together with the company’s Amazon store, sold more than 6,000 units of emergency contraception, up from 1,000 units the day before, said Ariel Kondov, one of the company’s owners.
“I don’t think anyone is prepared to support the demand” with current inventory, Mr. Kondov said. He reached out Friday to morning-after manufacturers, who assured him that they are increasing their production and will continue to meet growing demand.
There are currently two primary products in emergency contraception (or morning after) category.
Plan B is the most popular brand of morning-after pill. Plan B, along with other over-the-counter morning after pills, contains levonorgestrel. Levonorgestrel prevents the development of pregnancy by interfering in the process of ovulation. Planned Parenthood states that it is less effective in those who weigh more than 160 pounds.
Ella, a prescription pill that contains ulipristal-acetate and can be taken up to five days after sex. Planned Parenthood says it may be more effective for women who are more than 165 lbs (but not more that 195 lbs) than Plan B. It also interferes in the process of ovulation.
Planned Parenthood spokesperson Ms. Freeland said that some emergency contraceptives work better if taken sooner. “But also keep in mind that stockpiling or hoarding emergency contraception can limit the ability of people in your community” to get it.
People can consult their doctor or visit a clinic like Planned Parenthood to get an Ella prescription. They can also consult licensed professionals at telehealth companies like Wisp that offer reproductive products and services.
In May, following the leaked draft of the Supreme Court ruling, Wisp saw a 40 percent surge in sales of emergency contraception products and services over the previous month, according to Ahmad Bani, the company’s CEO. And in the 24 hours after the Supreme Court’s official announcement on Friday, Wisp’s sales of emergency contraceptives were 25 times what it had sold in the whole month of May.
But panic buying and the potential shortages that it can cause are causing more concern than when panic buying was possible in the early days. “We all saw what happened with toilet paper,” said Hannah Lyter, 27, a social media manager who has helped create content for Wisp, and who has been buying pills to distribute to those in need.
Sarah McKenna, 21, a spiritual adviser and tarot-card reader from Saylorsburg (Penn.), went on Amazon to order three pills after the announcement was made. She added to the order she had placed last month following the leakage of the draft decision.
“My first thought was that I would like to purchase morning-after pills not only for myself but for those who need it, because people are going to buy them and resell them for a crazy price,” Ms. McKenna said. “I have friends and family who can’t always afford those things and I wanted to just have some extra to make sure that the people who need it can have it. Even if I have to ship it to somebody randomly.”
Ms. McKenna bought My Way Emergency Contraceptive. It is a generic version Plan B One-Step and usually costs $8 per pill. Ms. McKenna discovered that prices were rising an hour after she bought it. The day after the announcement, it was sold out on the Amazon seller’s page.
“It’s going to keep happening,” she said of price increases and supply shortages.
Ms. McKenna is carrying five morning-after pills and intends to keep one for herself. “It’s good to be prepared,” she added. She refrained from buying more because she didn’t want to keep others who might need them more urgently from accessing them.
As long as there are no laws making it a crime to mail contraception, she said, “I would definitely send it out to people if they needed it.”
Margaret Laws, 57 years old, was visiting her sister in Broken Arrow (Okla.) when she heard the decision. She decided to buy morning-after pill that day. “I was just like, ‘I can’t just stand by and do nothing.’” Ms. Laws lives in Oakland, Calif., but spends a quarter of her time with family in Oklahoma, a state that had the most restrictive law banning abortion in the country before the ruling.
She purchased 10 pills using about $100 from her health savings account. “My first thought was, ‘I’m going to find out where I can safely distribute these locally because there’s going to be some girl who either willingly or unwillingly has sexual intercourse and is afraid of getting pregnant,’” she said.
Ms. Laws is a lesbian who does not have sex. She notified her network in Tulsa, particularly those with daughters, that she can call her if they need pills. She has also reduced the amount of pills she bought.
If her outreach makes her a modern-day “drug dealer,” wondered Ms. Laws, or if it violates HSA rules because she purchased medical products that she herself is not going to use, so be it. “What the hell do I care at this point?” she said. “Let them come at me.”
Women who have connections to states that have made or will make abortion illegal are more likely to purchase emergency contraception pills. Stacey Michelon (52), is a member of the Illinois Planned Parenthood boards and an abortion rights activist. Illinois is expected keep its laws protecting abortion rights. Ms. Michelon also has five children. The youngest one attends Tulane University, New Orleans, La., which has outlawed abortion.
Ms. Michelon ordered several Plan B packages for her children so they could help friends in need. She sent a group of Tulane parents, along with her son’s children, a text this week urging them to send their children to Tulane this fall armed and ready to take morning-after pills. “Many of them were probably thinking I’m a looney tune, one of those liberal crazies,” she said. “But I felt like I had an obligation because our kids go to school in a state hostile to abortion care. This is not only something we have to do for our girls. Our sons need to know this is an issue for them too.”
Maria Ianni, a mother to a 21 year-old daughter and two 19-years-old twins, was moved by Friday’s emotional pull to purchase them. She ordered six boxes.
Ms. Ianni, 53 years old, stated that she is not a proponent abortion but a champion of choice. “My oldest daughter is adopted and her birth parents made the decision to have her, which I’m so grateful for. But I am glad they were allowed to make their own decisions. If my children were in that position, if they were to become pregnant or get someone pregnant, I want them to have a full range of options.”
She ordered Plan B after she had thought about what she could do for her children. “I felt like my hand was forced,” she said.
Source: NY Times
