Re: [sudo-discuss] TIL: Hacking Sexual Health: Good news: Plan B.

Yo all- A federal judge has ruled that the "Plan B, One-Step" emergency contraceptive pill must be made available _over-the-counter_ (not just on prescription) to all ages, e.g. young women under 17 as well as 17 and up. He ruled that the Obama Administration's attempt to limit Plan B to prescription-only for women under age 17, was clearly based on election-year politics rather than on science, and only health science can be a valid basis for policies re. medications. It appears that the Obama administration is happy with the ruling and probably won't appeal. This information via CBS Radio news. If I'm not mistaken, Plan B works by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. This can be a life-saver particularly for teenage young women and for rape victims. In the past few years there have been some truly outrageous cases where rape victims who were transported to hospitals that turned out to be run by the Catholic Church, were denied emergency contraception on the grounds that the hospital has a religious freedom right to determine what treatments it will offer. (More accurately, that the hospital's right to its freedom of religion trumps the emergency patient's right to their own freedom of religion.) The extreme religious right calls Plan B "an abortion in a pill," presumably because only God can determine which fertilized eggs do implant, and which ones (the majority of them) pass out of the body during the monthly period. Based on that reasoning, only God can determine who lives and who dies from common diseases, so members of the religious right should stop taking all medication for infectious illnesses. (Wishful thinking, but none the less;-) It occurs to me that SudoRoom sexual health might include making various contraceptives and safer-sex materials available at no cost to members, along with instructions for proper usage. Having Plan B available at SR might be a very good idea in the event someone needs it urgently at a time when pharmacies are closed or there is some other issue preventing them getting it at a pharmacy. --- In other public health news, international public health experts are seriously concerned about the H5N9 virus, because it's a novel virus with an extremely high case fatality rate ("CFR"). Recently there have been approx. 18 cases in China, of which approx. 6 have been fatal. New viruses often emerge first in China due to migratory bird paths over China plus agricultural practices that keep ducks and pigs in relatively close proximity. The transmission path is from wild birds to captive ducks, and from there to pigs. Pigs catch both avian and human viruses, so they become "mixing vessels" enabling swapping of genetic material between avian and human viruses, leading to emergent viruses that are potentially deadly to humans. I follow the public health news pretty closely, so if H5N9 starts to look like an actual danger rather than only a potential threat, I'll pull the red fire alarm on the SudoRoom mailing list. -G. ===== On 13-04-04-Thu 3:29 PM, Hol Gaskill wrote: