Plan B Available for Free Nationwide Tomorrow

[Caitlain]

Planned Parenthood will be giving away free doses of Plan B emergency contraception at most of its offices nationwide tomorrow, Wednesday, December 6.

Every female should have a dose of Plan B, even if you aren't sexually active, if you're on the pill, you use condoms, or whatever. You simply never know what will happen. Even if you are raped, in many states hospitals are not required to even let you know about the availability of Plan B. If you live in rural areas, you may not be able to find a pharmacy that carries Plan B, and when time is of the essence. You may even be able to provide it to a friend in an emergency.

If someone is offering to you for free, there's NO reason not to avail yourself of this. The normal cost of this will run between $30 and $60, so free = good!

If you're 18 or older, all you have to do is walk in and pick it up. If you're under 18, you'll have to have a brief interview with a counselor, but PP is waiving the fees for that as well.

To find the nearest PP to you, go to PP's web site, enter your ZIP code, and find it. Call them to see if they are participating.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

Plan B is an emergency contraceptive, and is chemically and functionally identical to regular birth control. It is simply a more concentrated form of it, and is intended to be used when a condom breaks, when you have unprotected sexual intercourse, when you are raped, etc. Plan B is not to be confused with RU-486, also known as the abortion pill. Plan B is NOT an abortifacient, and will not do anything if you are already pregnant. Plan B is more effective at preventing pregnancy the sooner it is taken after intercourse, but can significantly reduce the likelihood of pregnancy up to 120 hours after sex. For more information about Plan B go to http://ec.princeton.edu/