The New York state legislature supported a new bill Monday that would allow pharmacists to provide Plan B, the ‘morning-after’ contraceptive pill to women and girls without a prescription.

The bill, which states women can only receive Plan B without a prescription in the county in which they live, may make the new legislation, if passed. This will exclude Syracuse University students whose permanent residence is outside Onondaga County.

If the bill is passed by the governor, it would eliminate the need for women to wait for a doctor’s appointment to get Plan B, which must be taken within 72 hours after sexual intercourse.

The new bill is an amended version of an older bill that Republican Gov. George Pataki vetoed last August. It addresses some of the issues the governor raised, including a requirement that information about sexually transmitted diseases be made available when the pill is distributed.

The bill would also limit the dispersion of emergency contraception to one dose at a time and would prohibit men from obtaining emergency contraception. Although some changes were made to the earlier bill that Pataki had vetoed, the new bill does not address Pataki’s concern about setting a minimum age to receive the drug.

Although SU Health Services Director Dr. James Jacobs refused to comment or release statistics on the issue, Health Services does provide emergency contraception to students.

Students can also obtain emergency contraception at Planned Parenthood of the Syracuse/Rochester region on East Genesee Street or by calling their doctor at home.

‘I don’t see what’s wrong with things the way they are,’ said Matthew Taranto, a pharmacist at the Rite Aid at 1405 E. Genesee St. ‘If you have a doctor, all you have to do is call him and have him call in the prescription.’

Sylvia Idem, a sophomore communications and rhetorical studies major, said a friend of hers in high school had to take the morning-after pill.

‘She was scared – mostly about being pregnant,’ Idem said. ‘She was embarrassed to talk to her doctor, but not afraid.’

Idem also said most women don’t know the side effects of the pill; they just know they won’t get pregnant.

‘People should be more educated before they pop it like headache medicine,’ Idem said.

Nicole Daurio, a junior wildlife science major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science, said Plan B can be useful on a college campus.

‘The morning-after pill is good for some people,’ Daurio said, ‘but not for those who would use it as a regular form of birth control.’

From a pharmacist’s perspective, Taranto said, the only thing he doesn’t like about unprotected sex is the spread of disease.

‘Does making Plan B more available say that it’s OK?’ Taranto said. ‘I don’t know.’

Published on February 28, 2006 at 12:00 pm