Just think, what might have been if Bristol Palin
had known about Plan B…

«PRO-ACTIVELY DECREASING THE NUMBER OF UNINTENDED PREGNANCIES AND ABORTIONS«

JOIN US TOMORROW

March 13, 2009 11 am

Yonkers City Hall Steps/South Broadway

                              

YONKERS, NY:  On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President Obama said, “no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make.”

 

On Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11 AM on the front steps of Yonkers City Hall, Choice Matters together with other women’s advocacy organizations including Victims Assistance Services, Julie Frauenfelder of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Services Program, and Karen Carroll former Coordinator of the Westchester County Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program, will put President Obama’s words into action by taking The Emergency Contraception (EC) Initiative-Plan B Education and Awareness Outreach to the streets of Yonkers.

 

“Armed with a recorder, educational materials and the Oops-Plan B couch we will work to empower the women of Westchester through education to take control of their lives.  The significant increase in teen pregnancy rates in both Westchester and the Tri-State Area is alarming.  We stand together in our belief that the dissemination of proper and correct information about Plan B can play a key role in reversing this trend, and in our determination that it is crucial to educate the public — particularly women — about Plan B, a.k.a Emergency Contraception, EC, or the morning-after pill,” declared Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, president of Choice Matters.

 

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FACTS ABOUT PLAN B

1. Plan B is a high dose of birth control that can be taken up to 5 days after sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy although it is most effective when taken sooner.  Plan B is in NO WAY an abortion pill as it CANNOT terminate a pregnancy and does NOT have an effect on an already existing pregnancy.  It also does not protect against STIs.  Plan B does provide an alternative method of pregnancy prevention and when used within the first 3 days of unprotected sex it is up to 89% effective.  It still works within the 5-day window but its effectiveness does significantly decrease. 

 

2. Plan B is available over the counter if you are 18 or older, and if you are under 18 it is still available but you need a prescription to receive it and the prescription can be both prescribed and filled without parental consent, which is in accordance with New York State law.

 

According to the Guttmacher Institute: 1.94 million unintended pregnancies–including almost 400,000 teen pregnancies—and 810,000 abortions are prevented each year by publicly funded family planning services that provided millions of young and low-income women access to contraceptive services which include Plan B. In addition to the number of unintended pregnancies Plan B and other contraceptives prevent, there is the issue of cost. Publicly funded family planning services are highly cost-effective. More than 9 in 10 women receiving them would be eligible for Medicaid-funded prenatal, delivery and postpartum care services if they became pregnant. Avoiding the significant costs associated with these unintended births saves taxpayers. For every dollar spent on contraceptives, taxpayers save $4 in costs associated with unintended births to mothers eligible for Medicaid-funded natal care. (Guttmacher Institute, Joerg Dreweke, 2/24/2009)