We know that there is a need for emergency contraceptive pills and that women can easily identify for themselves whether or not they need it. Westhoff and others at the briefing acknowledge, though, that there are still some major economic, bureaucratic and political hurdles to overcome before these pills make their way onto drugstore shelves. For example, insurance companies cover emergency contraception, but if these pills become available without a prescription, they will no longer cover the cost of these pills. Emergency contraceptives act after intercourse by preventing the release of an egg from the ovaries or preventing a fertilized egg from implanting on the uterine wall. It is also available through high school or junior high school nurses.
Emergency contraception is truly available over the counter in Norway.
We use the same argument about emergency contraception. Women need to have a back-up plan, she says. But the way things stand now, she points out, even if a woman has unprotected or inadequately protected sex and knows that there is a solution available, she still has to see her health care provider, get a prescription, go to a pharmacy and get that prescription filled. Often this is not feasible during the narrow window of opportunity for which emergency contraceptives are most effective, which is soon after unprotected sex, according to Westhoff. Currently, Westhoff skirts the access issue by giving every new patient an undated, advanced prescription for emergency contraceptive pills.