I've been avoiding reading blogs, not checked my google reader, and sort of blissfully checked out of the internet as much as is humanly possible (while still being lured back by facebook, damn them). I found a personal essay on Plan B, aka the "morning after pill," and was eager to read the personal account. I'm not entirely sure if I should recommend it -- as the author ultimately seems conflicted about her choices and believes that the conservative anti-Plan B opinion that its borderline similarity with abortion, "Here you actually have the potentiality for a pregnancy," is a logical position.
When conservatives try to avoid condemning hormonal birth control outright, they argue that it does not have the "potentiality" for pregnancy, which makes absolutely no sense at all. It would seem that by taking hormonal contraceptives, one is exposing oneself to much higher rates of "potentiality," even though the body is not physically capable of becoming pregnant (except when the hormonal contraception fails or the user fails to take it properly, neither of which is a condemnation of the user or the object, but simply a point to keep in mind). Hormonal contraception does in fact lead, I believe, to many acts of potential pregnancies (assuming one is taking it to contracept and not for other purposes)...maybe that can be my tagline, should I ever really finally work in sexual health research for real. "Hormonal contraception leads to acts of potential pregnancy." If everyone else can play fast and loose with semantics, I don't see why I shouldn't.
But...trying not to become a totally tangential poster, given that I post so rarely, I think the Plan B article is worth reading. If for no other reason than hearing someone's experience with acquiring it before it was available over the counter is pretty powerful. I find it odd that it's framed as a "fateful moment when she [the author] made the choice," but I am pleased that there is a firsthand account of the experience, which I've rarely read anything about. I think Plan B is still not available everywhere without a prescription. It's state-by-state, but I know that Planned Parenthood has a campaign to allow you to call them and get a doctor to prescribe it without an office visit. The difficulty in getting contraception (more generally) in this country is really damn disturbing and the ways in which access to it has gotten tied up in other aspects of gynecological care makes me crazy.
