Nearly 50 students gathered at the Center for Tomorrow on Monday night for a forum on emergency contraception organized by Planned Parenthood and the Health Education and Human Services division of Sub-Board I.
The emergency contraceptive pill, also known as ECP or the "morning-after pill," is a medical treatment that can prevent pregnancy if administered less than 72 hours after unprotected intercourse.
The forum came on the same day that the New York State Assembly passed a bill requiring every emergency room in the state to stock the pill. The bill, proposed by Assemblywoman Susan John, D-Rochester, passed by a 131 to 13 margin.
According to Amy White, director of marketing and communications for Planned Parenthood of Buffalo, better access to emergency contraception could lower the number of unintended pregnancies resulting from rape.
"In New York each year, rape causes 25,000 unintended pregnancies," White said. "If ECPs were readily available, 22,000 of those pregnancies could have been prevented."
Emergency contraception, which is a higher dosage of the same hormones found in birth control pills, works by preventing ovulation from taking place, by inhibiting fertilization of an egg or by preventing an already-released egg from impanting in the uterus wall, according to PlannedParenthood.org.
A study conducted by the lobbying group Family Planning Advocates of New York State found that nearly 1,000 rape victims leave emergency rooms each year without emergency contraception.
JoAnn Smith, chief executive officer of Family Planning Advocates of New York State, said she was happy to hear the State Assembly passed the bill.
"The bill mandates that every ER in the state of New York tell women about ECP," said Smith. "If women wish to obtain it, they can do so on site."
Dana Neitlich, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Buffalo and Erie County, said the treatment is beneficial because it gives women "control."
"Essentially, women have the ability to take control of a situation that may be out of their control," Neitlich said. "We can be there for them, and I'm very proud of that."
Neitlich said the widespread availability of emergency contraceptives could prevent 800,000 abortions and 1.7 million unintended pregnancies annually.
This treatment is available to UB students at the Student Health Center in Michael Hall on South Campus. Students are charged $8 for the treatment, which is administered orally in two doses taken 12 hours apart.
According to Jody Snyder, a physician at the Student Health Center, more than 400 of the treatments are administered to UB students every year.
"Students have become more aware of the treatment and the rate of prescription has increased," Snyder said. "In the early 1990s, I could remember students doing this hardly at all."
Stephanie Seyse, a clinical instructor in the Department of Pharmacy, said the pill is safe for students to take. "According to the World Health Organization, there are no absolute medical contraindications to the use of ECPs, with the exception of pregnancy," she said.
Erika Zimmerman, a senior anthropology major, said she was shocked that many people, including doctors, do not know the difference between emergency contraception and RU486, a medical abortion pill. "It struck me that some physicians still confuse the morning-after pill with RU486," she said.
According to the Planned Parenthood Web site, the public confusion about the emergency contraception pill and RU486 is "considerable."
The Web site states the main difference between emergency contraception and RU486 is that while RU486 can abort a pregnancy that has already begun, the morning-after pill can only keep a pregnancy from beginning.
Smith called on the audience to help build an "unstoppable coalition" of advocates for emergency contraception legislation by supporting the bill passed by the Assembly and a similar bill proposed by Senator Nick Spano, R-Westchester, that has yet to be voted on by the New York State Senate.
"In New York State today, women can go into an emergency room and not have their emergency taken care of," Smith said. "That is not appropriate."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
