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2007Back Up Your Birth Control Campaign
March 20, 2007 National Day of Action
Ensuring EC Access for Teens in the new ‘Dual-Label’
Environment
The 2007 Back Up Your Birth Control Day
of Activism will be held on Tuesday, March 20th.
This year marks the sixth year of this national
initiative to raise awareness about emergency contraception- a safe
and effective method of birth control. Efforts this year will address
the new ‘dual-label’ environment, in which adults do
no longer need a prescription to obtain EC, but teens do. The campaign
will continue the longstanding tradition of EC education and outreach
through provider and public education, and policy debates about
EC. 2007 also presents a great
opportunity to take advantage of the increased media attention surrounding
the arrival of the new non-prescription EC product.
In light of the FDA’s August 24, 2006 decision
to allow over-the-counter (OTC) sales of emergency contraception
to adult women only, while maintaining the prescription
requirement for teens, increased efforts are needed to promote knowledge
and use of this safe, back up method of birth control. In this new
‘dual-label’ environment, women 18 years of age and
older can buy EC directly from the pharmacy upon the presentation
of a valid government issued ID.
While the FDA’s decision expands access to
EC for some adult women, it does not go far enough to improve access
to EC for all women. In the ‘dual-label’ environment,
many women will be excluded from timely OTC access due to the age
restriction, ID requirement, or increased cost.
The 2007 Day of Activism is dedicated to
spreading the word to all women about EC as a safe and effective
method of back up birth control using the following three strategies:
- Direct EC education efforts towards teens and teen educators
(Visit our new website www.IneedEC.info!)
- Dispel the misconception that EC is not safe for teens
- Distribute information so that all women know how to get EC
in the new
‘dual-label’ environment s
1) Direct EC education efforts towards
teens and teen educators
•The BUYBC Campaign is proud to
unveil a brand-new teen centered EC website:
www.IneedEC.info
• As a supplement to all of your EC education
and outreach efforts for teens, we offer this website as a new
comprehensive EC resource for teens. IneedEC.info
offers teens valuable information on EC, instructions on how to
get EC, information on how to talk to their doctor and friends
about EC, while providing access to all of our English and Spanish
BUYBC materials.
• A new IneedEC.info
wallet card for teens is designed to advertise the new website,
along with a IneedEC.info key chain
design contest for teens. Visit the website for more contest details!
• The new IneedEC.info
website is designed to grow into dynamic, active on-line EC resource
for teens. The site will provide an engaging on-line community
that encourages teens to become an EC resource for their peers
in their own communities. During the summer and fall months of
2007, more information, activities, and materials will be added
to the website.
• One of the major goals of the 2007 Back
Up Your Birth Control Day of Action is to focus education
efforts on a teenage audience. Because the FDA excluded teens
from the benefits of timely OTC access to EC, increased educational
efforts are needed to ensure teens have the knowledge and resources
necessary to access prescription EC from their clinic or doctor.
• Requiring teens under 18 to obtain and
fill an EC prescription causes unnecessarily delays and will make
the EC treatment less effective.
• The United States has the highest rates
of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world.
Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $9 billion annually.
• EC has the potential to reduce rates
of unintended pregnancy among US teens. In order to close this
EC health care gap experiences by teens, the BUYBC campaign is
dedicated to increasing the amount of EC information available
to teens.
• The BUYBC campaign encourages EC educators
and participants to plan BUYBC Day of Action activities for a
teenage audience, or to partner with teens and youth educators
in your community.
• An exciting variety of high-quality Rosie
the Riveter EC educational materials are available for order
on our website, www.backupyourbirthcontrol.org.
• Participants can also access the EC_101:_Toolkit,
an organizer’s resource for planning BUYBC activities with
your activists and volunteers. The EC 101: Toolkit is
a comprehensive guide to engaging the local media and medical
community and spreading EC awareness via public education, college,
legislative and campus activities.
For more information visit: www.backupyourbirthcontrol.org,
www.IneedEC.info, www.sexetc.org,
www.teenwire.com and www.advocatesforyouth.org
2) Dispel the misconception that EC is
not safe for teens
• EC is a safe and effective birth control
options for teens. The FDA’s decision to maintain the prescription
requirement for women less than 18 years of age is medically unnecessary
and sends the wrong message about the safety of this product.
• The safety and efficacy of this back-up
birth control method has been confirmed by leading medical and
public health organizations. In December 2003, two FDA expert
advisory committees voted overwhelmingly to recommend that EC
be made available OTC for women of all ages – a recommendation
supported by many scientists and health experts within the Agency.
• Studies show that increased access to
emergency contraception does not cause teen promiscuity or increase
other risk-taking behaviors. National health experts, including
the American Academy of Pediatrics, continue to reaffirm that
unintended pregnancy poses a much graver health risk to young
women, than EC.
• Teens are able to use EC safely and effectively.
There is no medical reason to exclude teens from OTC access to
EC.
• Current use of contraception by teens
prevents as many as 1.65 million pregnancies in the US
each year. However, about 800,000 teens still experience a pregnancy
each year and 85 percent of these pregnancies are unintended.
For more information visit: www.aap.org;
www.adolescenthealth.org
and www.acog.org
3) Distribute information so that all women
know how to get EC in the new ‘dual-label’ environment
• EC is available without a prescription
to women 18 and older at the pharmacy, upon the presentation of
a valid, government issued ID.
• Women younger than 18 need a prescription
from their doctor or other health care provider.
• EC is available to women of all ages,
without identification, at participating pharmacies in the following
states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Mexico,
Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and Washington State. To locate
a pharmacy in one of these states, please visit www.EC-Help.org
• Teens around the country, can locate
an EC provider in there are by visiting www.not-2-late.com
or calling 1-888-NOT-2-LATE (English) and 1-888-En-Tres- Dias
(Spanish).
For more information visit: www.not-2-late.com
or www.EC-Help.org
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