Plan B Pill Now Readily Available

This photo released by Barr Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday Dec. 6, 2006 shows the packaging, pills and educational booklet for the over-the-counter version of the morning-after pill now available at pharmacies nationwide. The top left box shows a front view of the package, the top right box shows the back of the package, the bottom left insert included inside the box shows the pills and the bottom right piece is the educational booklet included in the package. (AP Photo/ Barr Pharmaceuticals) (AP)

NEW YORK -- A month after distribution began, the over-the-counter version of the morning-after pill is now available at pharmacies nationwide. Planned Parenthood celebrated Wednesday with a free giveaway of the emergency contraceptive, while critics insisted that Plan B's accessibility will soon be a cause for regret.

Plan B was the focus of bitter debate for years before the Food and Drug Administration, after repeated delays, declared in August that customers 18 and older should be able to buy it in pharmacies without a prescription.

The manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., then needed to develop new packaging for the over-the-counter version; it announced the start of national distribution on Nov. 6.

Plan B, a high dose of a drug found in many regular birth-control pills, can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. Girls 17 and younger still need a prescription to buy Plan B, though an older person _ male or female _ could buy it over the counter on a teenage girl's behalf.

Supporters of Plan B had sought over-the-counter approval on the premise that wider availability would reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions.

Critics of the drug challenge those claims, arguing that Plan B instead will promote promiscuity and unsafe sex; they warn that men might coerce their underage sexual partners into using it. Some critics also consider the pill tantamount to abortion, although it differs from the abortion pill RU-486 and has no effect on women who are already pregnant.

Carol Cox, a Barr Pharmaceuticals spokeswoman, said the Plan B distribution went smoothly, but she would not specify how many pills were issued. She said the company does not expect detailed sales information until February.

The cost of a standard two-pill pack varies. Kate Horle, a Planned Parenthood official in Colorado, said prices there range from $30 at her organization's clinics to $61 at some supermarket-based pharmacies.

While some independent pharmacies are not stocking Plan B because of moral objections or perceived lack of demand, the pill is widely available. Major pharmacy chains such as CVS Corp., Rite-Aid Corp. and Walgreen Co. not only offer the pill throughout their networks, but also pledge to ensure that customers can buy Plan B onsite even if a given employee declines to provide service for reasons of conscience.

A CVS pharmacist who has qualms about selling Plan B must arrange for another employee to sell it, and the pharmacist must ensure that the customer "is served promptly and treated with respect," the company said.

Jackie Payne, government relations director for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said some pharmacy chains were less explicit in their commitments, but overall she was pleased by the industry's reception of over-the-counter Plan B.

"It's been a dramatic change in terms of access, of commitment to stock the pills and ensure that women receive service in the store without delay," she said.