If so, take the survey (or just click the button on the right-hand side of this site — the one that says “Have You Used Plan B?” in huge letters). The details:
AED, a nonprofit organization, is conducting an anonymous, on-line survey of women in the U.S., ages 18-44 years, who took Plan B after January 2007. This consumer survey will help us learn more about women’s experiences getting and taking Plan B. The results will be used to help make the medication more accessible to women who need it.
It’s totally anonymous. And if taking the survey is triggering for you, or if you just need someone to talk to, try checking out RAINN.
I don’t think I’m eligible to take the survey, because I’m 17 and a Canadian, but I’ve taken Plan B before. My boyfriend and I had been going out for four years, having sex for a few months, and so I wasn’t really expecting anything to happen. Nonetheless, the condom broke.
I had just turned sixteen, and it was pretty obvious that pregnancy was in no way an option, so after I had a good cry and The Boy consoled me and helped me through an anxiety attack, we walked over to Shoppers Drug Mart and picked up Plan B. No hassle, no fuss. The pharmacist however hissed at me “If the two of you are going to be having sex, you need to use protection. This is not an acceptable form of birth control.” I just nodded weakly, afraid and embarrassed.
From what I’ve read though, my experience has been wholly positive and simple. I’ve heard of women having to drive to three different pharmacies to get what they need. I live in Canada though, so I’m sure that’s one reason for the difference.
“I beg your fucking pardon, but you’re assuming a lot about us. Thank you, and now fuck off.”
Proselytizing is still proselytizing. Or, if you’re a little more polite than me, “I’ve read the literature, thanks. Now, fuck off.”
i’ve taken it twice back when i was 19. i had to try five or six pharmacies to find one that had it. it was a hour away in a different town. all the pharmacists i talked to were very nice and informative, though.
“This is not an acceptable form of birth control.”
Ugh. Self righteous pricks like that piss me off. Their unthinking judgment is just unbelievable. He could be saying that to a rape victim for all he knows, but he can’t think beyond his tiny little worldview. (I’m not saying he has any right to say it to anyone else, just that it could make a traumatic experience even worse for rape victims).
I had to take it once when I was in college. The condom came off the guy. Inside me. So clearly, it didn’t work. (Why men should not use condoms to big for them part 1.) I had to try three different pharmacies before I found one that would sell it. Eckards had the nerve to tell me they could order it for me and it would be in in 3 days. Umm… I’m pretty sure the point is to take it sooner rather then later. And this was a town with a fairly large college, you think something like that would be in stock. The shame I felt of having to drive around to several different places, asking again and again for plan b, god, as if that nightmare wasn’t enough. I got so many “slut” stares… it was unreal.
Sadly, I took it so long ago I’m not really eligible for the survey.
“Eckards had the nerve to tell me they could order it for me and it would be in in 3 days.”
It’s probably being more charitable than they deserve, but if you didn’t give any information beyond “I want to fill this scrip/purchase Plan B,” they might have told you that in case you wanted it to have on hand in case of need rather than wanting it because you were already in need of it.
I took it back before it was OTC (broken condom), so I’m not eligible for the survey. I had to wait 2 days before I could get it because I was in college and the college health center was the ONLY place in the entire surrounding area that stocked it. And they were closed. My RA helped me call every hospital and a bunch of doctors and none of them–not even the secular hospitals–carried it. Well, that’s not exactly true. It was NY, so they had to carry it, but they’d only give it to rape victims.
I’m not eligible to take the survey, as I took Plan B in 2005. But I want to share my experience anyway, because I think it was…not as bad as some, but certainly not the best.
My fiance’s condom broke, and I called the nurse practitioner who’d written me a prescription for antibiotics a few months prior, when I’d had a UTI so bad I could barely walk, and asked about coming in to get some Plan B.
She asked me why. Like it mattered. Then she said, no, she couldn’t write me a prescription, and refused to refer me to anyone who COULD. Wonder what she would have done if I’d told her I was raped?
The whole day was spent on the phone calling every clinic in the area, none of which could see me on such short notice.
Planned Parenthood’s Emergency Contraception hotline was a godsend. They faxed a prescription straight to the nearest pharmacy and within twenty minutes, I had my Plan B.
““I beg your fucking pardon, but you’re assuming a lot about us. Thank you, and now fuck off.”
Proselytizing is still proselytizing. Or, if you’re a little more polite than me, “I’ve read the literature, thanks. Now, fuck off.”"
It was extremely hard for me to even make eye contact, let alone swear at the pharmacist. There was just a heavy dreadful feeling of having done Something Wrong, and I wasn’t about to disagree with the person giving me the pills I really wanted.
I had to have a Rx too. I got it cause I ended up in the hospital because of the nightmare hook up. I don’t know why I couldn’t have gotten the Rx at the hospital… I don’t honestly remember. Most of that day is fuzzy/blocked out.
I used it several times before it became OTC.
Condom broke, condom came off in me…
It worked all times except once.
And never had anyone deny it to me…but then again, I always went to Planned Parenthood for it. I’ve always been lucky to have one near me.
[...] 15, 2008 Filed under: Dap, Feminism — valerie @ 2:30 pm Tags: plan b Thanks, Feministe, for posting about our Plan B survey AND adding a sidebar button! The latest tally shows over 875 responses! [...]
Oh, C., I’m sympathizing. I just swear like Calamity Jane when nosy assholes try to tell me shit about my life. It’s probably not the most effective thing in some cases, but it sure comes in handy when you’re giving birth to a child conceived in rape and the doctor says something stupid while hurting you during a vaginal exam like: “You had to put something up there to get that baby in there didn’t you?”
There’s nothing like, “I WAS RAPED YOU IGNORANT FUCK” coming out of a teenage girl’s mouth to make people rethink their assumptions.
I first tried to get Plan B after a condom slippage on a Friday night, and I spent hours on the internet figuring out that I could get it OTC from the closest Planned Parenthood, but that they were only open for a few hours on Saturday, and not at all on Sunday. To make sure that anxiety never happened again, I ordered a just-in-case pack from an internet pharmacy (www.drugstore.com). They are based in Washington State, and if you can afford the full price packs ($45, more than I paid at PP), it seems like a decent backup to have around.