After the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade case was announced, emergency contraceptives have emerged as a popular purchase for many who are concerned about access to assisted reproductive technology. Some women buy emergency contraceptives in case they need to prevent pregnancy after sexual activity. As Judge Clarence Thomas suggested in a positive opinion released last week, others are creating small stockpiles in anticipation of possible restrictions on contraception. Some women said that for those advocating the right to abortion, buying pills at the moment of disorientation otherwise brought them a rapid outburst of control or power.
Chrissy Bowen, 51, was sitting on the couch in the living room of Flower Mound, Texas, on Friday morning. Her husband noticed a news message appearing on the muted TV screen. The Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade case. Soon it will trigger a ban on some abortion rights that the Texas people still hold.
After taking a shower, she shed tears. Bowen pasted a link in a group text chat with her friend to My Choice Emergency Contraceptive, a tablet that can be taken three days after her sex.
So-called morning after pills are emergency contraceptives that work by preventing ovulation. According to Megan N. Freeland, Director of Health Communication at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, it is used together to end an established pregnancy, unlike the abortion drug known as misoprostol and mifepristone.
“I’m buying more,” Bowen said in a chat about emergency contraceptives, after pointing out in May that he had already bought some for his children, Politico. “Reminder” and she sent a text message to another group chat to refer to her previous discussion of buying contraceptives. Then she ordered six additional pills and paid about $ 10 each.
“The rules are the same for both my kids,” said Bowen, who has a daughter in high school and a son in college. “They have to inform their friends that we have the drug, and once they get used to it, we need to replace it with a new one. I have hundreds of tablets I wasn’t a crazy buyer who was storing up, and I’m not trying to supply contraception to the entire town. Now abortion isn’t available and this kind of contraception isn’t available anytime soon. I’m doing this because I’m worried about it. “
Bowen confirmed the order the day after the decision and saw a notice on Amazon’s seller’s page that the seller’s inventory was sold out.
As people across the country absorb the news of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal protection of the right to have an abortion, there is growing interest and demand for legal options available to those who want to avoid pregnancy.Since the decision, many women have searched for tools to manage their reproductive future and have logged on to retail stores and healthcare websites to buy emergency contraceptives to be taken after sex to prevent pregnancy...
Even before rallies and marches were organized, the immediacy and access of the Internet provided an exit. The founder of Stix, a vaginal and reproductive medicine company that sells products such as pregnancy tests, yeast infection products, and emergency contraceptives online, found that the demand for restarts, which are pills the next morning, is 600 in the next 24 hours. Said that it surged by more than%. Supreme Court announcement. The tablet costs $ 38 and has a shelf life of up to 20 months.
Cynthia Plotch, co-CEO with Jamie Norwood of Stix, said:
From Opinion: The End of the Roe v. Wade Case
Commentary by Times Opinion writers and columnists on the Supreme Court’s decision to terminate constitutional rights to abortion.
Retailers are trying to increase supply. On Friday, health care product website WellSpringMed, along with its Amazon store, sold more than 1,000 to 6,000 units of emergency contraceptives the day before, Ariel Condo, one of the company’s owners. Mr. Hu said.
“I don’t think anyone is ready to support demand,” Condoff said with current inventory. He contacted in the morning-after assuring him that the manufacturer was increasing production on Friday and would continue to meet the surge in demand.
Currently, there are two main products in the emergency contraception (or morning after) category.
Plan B is the most famous brand of emergency contraceptives. Levonorgestrel is the main component of Plan B and other over-the-counter emergency contraceptives. Levonorgestrel, when taken within 72 hours of sexual activity, prevents pregnancy by interfering with the process of ovulation. According to Planned Parenthood, it is less effective for people who weigh more than 165 pounds.
Ella, an emergency contraceptive containing ulipristal acetate, can be taken within 5 days of sexual intercourse. According to Planned Parenthood, women who weigh more than 165 pounds (but not more than 195 pounds) may be more effective than Plan B. It also works by interfering with the process of ovulation.
According to Dr. Freeland, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, some emergency contraceptives are more effective the sooner you take them, so it’s a good idea to get them before you need them. increase. “But keep in mind that stockpiling and stockpiling emergency contraceptives can limit the capabilities of the people in the area.”
To get Ella’s prescription, you can consult a doctor, a medical clinic such as Planned Parenthood, or a qualified specialist in a telemedicine company such as Wisp that provides reproductive products and services such as virtual doctor appointments. increase.
According to the company’s CEO, Ahmad Bani, after a draft Supreme Court ruling was leaked in May, Wisp’s sales of emergency contraceptive products and services were 40% higher than last month. It increased rapidly. And 24 hours after the official announcement by the Supreme Court on Friday, Wisp’s emergency contraceptive sales were 25 times higher than the average sales for May 1st.
However, people are more concerned about the pitfalls of panic buying and the potential shortages it may bring than certain early pandemic supplies. “We all saw what happened with toilet paper,” said Hannah, a social media manager who helps create Wisp content and buys pills for distribution to people in need. Lyter, 27, said.
21-year-old spiritual adviser and tarot card reader Sarah McKenna, who lives in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, bought three tablets on Amazon at the time of the announcement and added them to last month’s order after the decision was leaked. Did.
“The first thing I thought was that I wanted to buy emergency contraceptives not only for myself, but for those who needed them.” A friend who can’t afford them all the time. And have a family, and I just wanted to have a little extra to make sure people who need it can have it, even if they have to randomly ship to someone . “
McKenna purchased the generic version of Plan B One Step, My Way Emergency Contraceptive. This usually costs $ 8 per tablet. One hour after the purchase, McKenna noticed that the price was rising. The day after the announcement, it was sold out on the Amazon seller’s page.
“It will continue to happen,” she said of price increases and supply shortages.
McKenna has a total of five emergency contraceptives and intends to keep some for herself. “It’s good to be prepared,” she added. She refrained from buying any more because she didn’t want to prevent others from accessing them who might need them more urgently.
Unless there is a law that makes mailing contraception a crime, she said, “If they need it, I will definitely send it to people.”
Margaret Loews, 57, was visiting her sister in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. When she heard that decision, she decided to buy her emergency contraceptive for the day. She was like, “I just wait and can’t do anything.” Mr. Law lives in Oakland, California, but she spends a quarter of her time with her family in the most restrictive state of Oklahoma. She bans abortion in the country before she is sentenced.
She received about $ 100 from her Health Savings Account (HSA) and bought 10 tablets. “My first thought was,’I have girls who have sex voluntarily or unwillingly and are afraid of getting pregnant, so I’m going to find a place where I can safely distribute them locally,” she said.
Rose, a lesbian who does not have sex with men, has informed a network of women in the Tulsa region, especially women with daughters, that she can call her if she needs a pill. She also limited the amount she purchased.
I wondered if her outreach would make her a modern “drug seller” or if she violated HSA rules because she bought a medical product that she didn’t use herself. “What on earth do I care about at this point?” She said. “Let them come to me.”
Women with states that have made or plan to have an abortion were particularly quick to buy emergency contraceptives. Stacy Michelon, 52, is a board member and abortion rights activist for the planned parental organization in Illinois. Illinois is a state that is expected to maintain legislation that protects the right to abortion. However, Michelon is also the mother of five children, the youngest of whom attends the University of Tulane in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Michelon ordered several Plan B packages for the kids. That way, the kids will have enough for their friends who may be in trouble. This week she sent a text message to a group of parents whose children went to Tulane with their son, and this fall she urged them to arm themselves with emergency contraceptives and send them to school. “Many of them probably thought I was Looney Tunes, one of those liberal crazys,” she said. “But we felt obliged because our children go to school in a state that is hostile to the care of abortion, and this we have to do for our daughters. It’s not just that. Our sons need to know that this is also a problem for them. “
Maria Ianni, the mother of a 21-year-old daughter and 19-year-old twins (son and daughter) in Mission Hills, Kansas, felt an emotional attraction to buy them on Friday. She ordered 6 packages.
Ianni, 53, said she was a supporter of choice, not a supporter of abortion. “My eldest daughter was adopted and her born parents decided to welcome her. I am very grateful. But I am also happy that they were allowed to choose. If my children were in that position, and if they get pregnant or make someone pregnant, I want them to have a wide range of choices. “
She ordered Plan B when she thought about what she could do to give her children choice. “I felt like my hands were forced,” she said.