Morning after pill still distributed

Planned Parenthood will begin offering free emergency contraception to rape survivors this month.\nThe family-planning center will continue to sell the pill to the public for $29. \n"We feel rape survivors deserve emergency contraception," said Kelly McBride, community specialist for south central Indiana at Planned Parenthood of Greater Indiana in Bloomington. "Pregnancy is the last thing a rape survivor needs to worry about." \nThe pills contain higher doses of estrogen than traditional birth control methods and prevent pregnancy by blocking ovulation.\nMcBride said she's wary of referring to the pills as "the morning-after" method. Planned Parenthood has offered emergency contraception for a few years, and McBride has found many women believe the pill must literally be taken within 24 hours of unprotected sex. \nOn the contrary, Planned Parenthood officials say the pills are at least 75 percent effective in preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours.\nPlanned Parenthood studies have shown only 11 percent of women know the basic facts about emergency contraception, and only 1 in 3 have ever heard of it. McBride said offering the pills gives an alternative to pregnancy to rape survivors and women who are not on birth control or did not use a condom.\nBut, emergency contraception should never replace traditional forms of birth control, McBride said.\n"Of course, we urge the use of more regular and consistent methods, but emergency contraception works for those women who were raped or careless in using birth control correctly," McBride said.\nEmergency contraception legislation has faced considerable difficulty in the national and local arenas alike, particularly from pro-life groups.\nKent Grimes, administrative pastor at Cherry Hill Christian Center in Bloomington, said any form of birth control is "not right."\n"My definite thought is that a child becomes a child when it is conceived," Grimes said.\nWhile Grimes recognized rape situations present particularly difficult circumstances, "you still come back to the truth that that's a baby."\nUltimately, however, the decision to take emergency contraception is a personal decision, Grimes said. \n"The church cannot legislate to someone," Grimes said. "That's their choice and decision."\nMcBride maintained the pill is markedly different from RU-486, the European "abortion pill" that's recently surfaced in the United States. RU-486 ends pregnancy if taken within the first seven weeks. \nPlanned Parenthood will increasingly publicize emergency contraception in the coming months. Efforts directed at IU students include posting flyers in bars, advertising in college and local publications and sending letters to local hospitals and medical centers.