The anti-choice Republicans in the Oklahoma legislature are playing games with women's lives again (still). Now they have suddenly stripped a bill and recrafted it to make an attempt to prevent any further Plan B access, regardless of what the FDA says.
Below is a call to action from the Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice, just sent out this afternoon. We need as many bodies at the Capitol tomorrow afternoon as possible to try to prevent this.
Please follow OCRJ on Facebook or Twitter for any late-breaking changes in schedule (they have a habit of giving out one time for the vote and then changing it to an earlier tiime with little to no notice).
Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice
Dear Supporters of Reproductive Justice,
This is a call to fight! Come to the capitol, contact your legislator!
Just when we think the legislature has done the worst it can do this session, it mounts another attack on reproductive rights They are moving against access to emergency contraception, stripping HB 2226 to add new language which would NOT allow Plan B One-Step or its generic equivalent to be available to women under the age of 17 without a prescription. It will also require pharmacists to dispense EC for women over 17.
This is obviously a response to new FDA rules that allow Plan B One-Step to be available to women 15 years and older without a prescription, making it available in the family planning or female health aisles in stores. The FDA has ruled the drug safe.
This may be a turning point where legislators move from attacking access to abortion to attacking access to contraception. We must stop this bill!
Contact your legislator! Come to the Capitol! Oppose HB 2226!
• Call or e-mail your representative. Find your state representative and senator here http://www.okhouse.gov/...
• Meet outside the House gallery Wed. (4th floor) at 9 am.
• Sit in the House gallery (enter 5th floor) Wed. May 15 at 1 pm.
If you care about reproductive freedom, make your voice heard!
Talking Points:
• If women and girls are to participate fully and equally in our society, they must be able to make their own decisions about their reproductive health, their future and their families, free from interference from government officials or any other individual or organization.
• While the national average for teen pregnancy among teens 15-19 is 68 per 1,000, in Oklahoma it is 80 per 1,000. Oklahomans need to do more to prevent teen pregnancy, not put barriers in the way. http://www.hhs.gov/...
• Making Plan B One-Step (emergency contraception) available without prescription will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. Isn’t that a worthy goal?
• Everyone cares about teens’ safety. The FDA recommends Plan B be sold over the counter because over 40 scientific studies say it is safe and effective. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Medicine and many other pulic health groups have recommended over-the-counter access to emergency contraception to women of all ages. http://www.fda.gov/... http://www.aap.org/...
• Of course, all parents should be communicating with their kids about their views and values on sex. But in the event that our kids do find themselves at risk of unintended pregnancy, which is more troubling: that they could go into any drug store and purchase a safe and effective means of preventing that unintended pregnancy? Or that they might be unable to obtain it because of the restrictions that have kept it locked behind the pharmacy counter?
• Teen pregnancy often leads to poverty. It costs the state money to subsidize teen pregnancy in both the short and long terms. Why not try to prevent it?
http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/...
http://durantdemocrat.com/...
• Evidence shows availability of emergency contraception does not increase sexual risk-taking. http://bixbycenter.ucsf.edu/...
• Anyone of reproductive age deserves access to contraception. It's a human right. http://thinkprogress.org/...
• Plan B is emergency contraception, not an abortifacient. http://rhrealitycheck.org/...