In 1996 President Clinton said "Abortion should not only be safe and legal, it should be rare."
The reason he said this is because the United States is a country where emotions run high when it comes to issues of pre-marital relations, birth control, and abortions. Without going into too much detail, the issue of abortion can be summarized by saying those that support anti-abortion believe life begins at the moment of conception. Those that are pro-choice believe that life begins sometime after conception (and the woman has the right to choose if she will have the child or not).
In recent history both national and local elections have been decided in part due to either pro-choice or anti-abortion votes.
In 1988 RU-486, AKA the "abortion pill" was introduced to the market much to the ire of the anti-abortion advocates.
Depending where you are in the world access post-conception birth control can be either limited or totally illegal. For example here are a few countries where abortion is illegal:
Brazil (191 Million People)
Mexico (110 Million People)
Ireland (4 Million People)
Now thanks to Barr Labs / Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. we have Plan B One-Step. Unlike RU-486, it is not an abortion pill, rather it prevents pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex. (how it works can be read about on the product website)
An over the counter drug (OTC) it can be purchased by anyone over 17 without a prescription for about $50. The effective rate with Plan B One-Step is 88% and higher, depending on how soon the drug is taken after having unprotected sex.
Since Plan B One-Step is not an abortion pill, it effectively sidesteps the morality of abortion issue clearing the legal hurdles in countries where abortion is illegal.
For more on new drug approvals by the FDA click here.
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