Nicholas Kristof on the need for over-the-counter emergency contraception

Nicholas Kristof really slams the Bush Administration's inane policy keeping emergency contraception by-prescription-only. Echoing what Cristina Page wrote in How The Pro-Choice Movement Saved America, about how the lack of easily available emergency contraception ultimately leads to more abortions. He also looks at how other countries have dealt with e.c., highlighting just how behind the United States is. And he coins a fabulous new word: "libidophobes" - how perfect!

"Beyond Chastity Belts," Nicholas D. Kristof

But unless the libidophobes in the administration mandate chastity belts, their opposition to Plan B amounts to a pro-abortion policy...

France has made a particular push for emergency contraception to lower its abortion rate by making free morning-after pills available to French teenagers, without informing the parents. Nurses in French junior high and high schools are authorized to hand out emergency contraception pills...

One thought that paralyzes the Bush administration is that American teenage girls might get easy access to emergency contraception and turn into shameless hussies. But contraception generally doesn't cause sex, any more than umbrellas cause rain...

The administration's philosophy seems to be that the best way to discourage risky behavior is to take away the safety net. Hmmm. I suppose that if we replaced air bags with sharpened spikes on dashboards, people might drive more carefully — but it still doesn't seem like a great idea.