Bad ruling by federal judge puts our daughters at risk

By Maggie Dewitte

As you stroll down the aisle of your local pharmacy, picking up aspirin and Tums, imagine your 12-year-old daughter there alone on another day and picking up a powerful hormone with nary a word from doctor or parent.

Is this the twilight zone you might ask? No. A federal judge recently ruled that the “morning-after pill” known as Plan B must be made available over the counter for “women” of all ages.

The Des Moines Register stated in its April 10 editorial (“Judge’s ‘Morning After’ Ruling Is the Right One”) that this judge made the right decision in allowing children to purchase emergency contraception.

The judge, and the Register, couldn’t be more wrong.

Emergency contraception is a high-dosage chemical that functions in three ways: delaying or blocking ovulation, [preventing fertilization], or irritating the lining of the uterus to not allow a newly formed embryo to attach.

Who will be explaining this to a young child when she purchases this? Not to mention the fact that these powerful hormones are a risk to women’s health. We know there is a link between breast cancer and oral contraception.

With the effects of these drugs putting adult women at risk, why would anyone assume they are safe for young women under the age of 18?

This is not at all in the best interest of women, whether minor-aged or over 18. We should be protecting our young women, not throwing dangerous drugs at them and sending them on their way.

[Maggie DeWitte is executive director, Iowans for LIFE, Des Moines]