FDA allows emergency contraception in college campus vending machine
Posted:
Updated:
CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
The accessibility of emergency contraception on college campuses has sparked recent debate.
Shippensburg University, in Pennsylvania, has been at the center of the controversy. Inside a student health center, it put a vending machine that sells the Plan B contraceptive -- commonly called "the morning-after pill." The machine also sells condoms and pregnancy tests.
Plan B is legal to buy without a prescription for those 17 and older and is sold at most pharmacies.
Shippensburg put the emergency contraception in the vending machine after a campus survey found 85 percent of students wanted it available on campus.
The vending machine became a lightning rod during the larger debate about President Obama's healthcare reforms.
The Food and Drug Administration agreed to open an inquiry into the machine, then announced it will take no action.
Studies show 49 percent of all pregnancies in America are unintended. The issue looms especially large at colleges where sex and alcohol can be as frequent a combination as pen and paper.
Supporters say young women need a discreet, non-embarrassing way to get emergency contraception if they've had unprotected sex or been raped. Critics say a doctor, or at least a pharmacist, should be involved -- and if there's a rape, police should be called.
Wednesday, May 15 2013 7:42 PM EDT2013-05-15 23:42:45 GMT
Controversial magazine covers have been happening a lot lately as publishers are struggling and controversy often sells. But, the June issue of Allure magazine is a different case.
Controversial magazine covers have been happening a lot lately as publishers are struggling and controversy often sells. But, the June issue of Allure magazine is a different case.
Beauty used to be in the eye of the beholder. Nowadays, a phone-app is making some of the judgments. More than 5 million people have bought the "Ugly-Meter" app. Here's how it works: You take a photo,
Beauty used to be in the eye of the beholder. Nowadays, a phone-app is making some of the judgments. More than 5 million people have bought the "Ugly-Meter" app.
There's debate about how a school in Georgia -- and the local police department -- handled a 6- year- old who apparently threw a violent temper tantrum.
