WORLD & NATION
April 19, 2013
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WALES, UK
Since November, Wales has recorded at least 765 cases of Swansea measles, 77 of which resulted in
critical hospitalization. Health officials believe the epidemic has yet to reach its peak, and governments
urge the citizens of Wales and England to receive at least one dose of the vaccination immediately.
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IRAN-PAKISTAN
BORDER
Iran’s largest
earthquake in 40 years
shook the country
along its border
with Pakistan.The
quake, measured on
Tuesday to have a 7.8
magnitude, was 50
miles south-east of the
city of Khash, but killed
people 1,500 miles
away in New Delhi.
So far, 38 people are
reported dead and at
least 80 injured.
WASHINGTON, DC, USA
The much-anticipated immigration
bill was released by the U.S. Senate
on Tuesday and is the beginning of
a bipartisan reform debate. Within
the bill is a stipulation that allows
for provisional legal status to those
who illegally immigrated before
December 31,2011. Under the
bill, full citizenship and the federal
benefits it entails would not be
granted for a decade or longer.
AUSTRALIA
For the first time in its 77 years, the winner of the Masters Golf Tournament is an
Australian native. Adam Scott, 32, skillfully dominated the Augusta National Golf Club
on Sunday and triumphed over Angel Cabrera. Scott finished with a score of 279,9
under par.
Now females of aQ ages can 'resort to Plan B’ and other emergency contraceptives
NEW COURT RULING MET
WITH VARIOUS REACTIONS:
RELIEF. CONCERN
BY CHRISTIANNA VAN DALSEN
Staff Wrhir
On April 5, Judge Edward R. Korman
declared that the Food and Drug
Administration must make the morning-
after pill accessible for females of all ages,
prescription or not.
This ruling overturned a decision made in
2011, in which Health and Human Services
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius required that girls
under age 17 have a prescription to acquire the
drug.
'The reason Kathleen made this decision is
that she could not be confident that a 10- or
11-year-old going to a drug store should be
able — alongside bubble gum or batteries —
be able to buy a medication that potentially,
if not used properly, could end up having an
adverse effect," said President Barack Obama
to reporters in regard to this decision in 2011.
Plan B One-Step is a morning-after pill
composed of 1.5 milligrams of the progestin
levonorgestrel. This synthetic hormone has
been used in birth control pills for over 35
years. The drug's website lists the side effects
as mild cases of "changes in your period,
nausea, lower abdominal pain, fatigue,
headache, dizziness and breast tenderness."
"It's been proven to be very effective and
very safe," Director of Development for
Planned Parenthood Health Systems Elizabeth
Freeze told The Guilfordian. "It's safer than
aspirin, even. The side effects are basically
nonexistent. We, Planned Parenthood, are
just very excited for this step forward for teen
health. It's wonderful for folks to stand up to
make sure that teens and young women have
access to the preventative care tfiey need."
But, some question what message is sent
to young girls when they are denied access to
contraceptives.
"I feel that the Obama administration
did a disservice by constructing this as a
potential problem of encouraging teen sex,"
said Associate Professor of Sociology qnd
Anthropology Julie Wmterich. "It's a disservice
to women's health and the conditions to
which people might need to buy emergency
contraception. I feel like the discourse about
emergency contraception — over the counter
or not — hasn't been clear and tmbiased in
terms of what it is and its safety and its access."
While some are relieved for the girls, others
house concerns about their potential to take
more risks with the new freedom to buy the
emergency contraceptive.
"ITs easily accessible, and girls can just store
a bunch in their house," said Early College
junior Rebecca Dou to The Guilfordian. "It's
readily available, and you can Just purchase it
without any embarrassment, without telling
anybody, ^fore, there was some shame in
having to get a prescription for this drug, but
now there's nothing to help prevent you from
making potentially harmful decisions."
However, the pill still has a limited
accessibility in terms of monetary cost. At
most pharmacies, the price ranges ft’om $20 to
$70.
"Missing in all this discourse about
emergency contraception is nonconsensual
sex," said Winterich. "If a girl's been a victim
of nonconsensual sex, and there's a large
myriad of circumstances in which this can
happen, that can bring shame.
"There's been a drug that been approved
that's safe, it's effective," continued Wmterich.
"Why don't we at least make that component
easier for them?"
From now on, purchase of the morning-
after pill will be hassle-free for girls under age
17, and the reason behind it — whether birth
control did not work or was not used, if the
intercourse was consensual or nonconsensual
— will remain the knowledge of the consumer
and the consumer alone.
"It's readily available and you can just purchase it without any
embarrassment, without telling anybody. Before, there was
some shame in having to get a prescription for this drug, but
now there's nothing to help prevent you from making potentially
harmful decisions."
Rebecca Dou, Early College junior