U.S. President Bush has just appointed a visible critic and opponent of contraception to head Title X, our family planning program whose purpose is to provide access to contraception and other family planning services.

In a 2000 Weekly Standard article, Orr railed against requiring health insurance plans to cover contraceptives. “It’s not about choice,” said Orr. “It’s not about health care. It’s about making everyone collaborators with the culture of death.”

Recently, the cost of hormonal forms of birth control such as the pill and the patch, among others, have skyrocketed. At least if you're buying them from a campus health clinic. Up until this year, pharmaceutical companies gave colleges deep discounts on contraception. Time Magazine explains why costs have gone up so much and The Chicago Sun-Times gives an example of the consequences.

We're already gearing up for the 2008 election and some candidates have some rather antiquated views on birth control. That's right, the pill and other routine methods of contraception considered controversial -- at least if you're trying to gain the Republican nomination for president. Take a look at what some of the candidates are saying:

The dramatic declines in teenage pregnancy rates noted in the United States between 1995 and 2002 were largely due to improved contraceptive use, not to abstinence, a new study shows.

The article goes into far more detail but I just want to point out that this is evidence that teens can and do make responsible choices when choosing to be sexually active. Indeed, contraceptive use accounted for 86% of the drop whereas abstinence can only claim 14%.

The morning after pill is now legal in the U.S. for over-the counter use, without a prescription, for those over 18.

But what does that mean to you?

Following is an in-depth question and answer page about the decision and how it will be applied for all women, about Plan B, and about pharmacist refusals and how to manage them. Please circulate this information and/or link it as widely as possible, (with attribution to the author, please).

The FDA press release from the day of the decision stated:

Well, for women 18 and older.

Minors will still need a prescription to obtain emergency contraception in most states. Despite the restriction, this is a step in the right direction that was a long overdue. For more information about emergency contraception and how it works, check out this article on Scarleteen's main site: Emergency Contraception. To learn more about the accessibility of the morning after pill in your state GO2EC.org is the place to start.