"okay when you say that pregnacy only affects individuals and immediate relations - which individual are referring to the mom, dad, or the baby? i mean I think it greatly affects society, not just an individual or a certain group of people. if an unwanted child is born and not loved, it he will be affected emotionally for sure. there are abandoned babies who end up in foster care with horrible subpar conditions. and foster care is state run, which gets money from taxpayers, so it does affect everyone in one way or another. then there are babies that are abandoned in the trash or other horrible places. yes you may not personally know those kids, so it might not affect you directly."
When I say individuals and immediate relations, it encompasses both the mom, dad, and baby (if you target the mom as the individual, the dad and baby would be the immediate relations, and vice versa). I do understand that unwanted babies affect society. It's a drain on our resources and yes, I am worried about that. But hear this point out. If pcp was not available otc, what would be the consequence? You will probably get a little more unwanted pregnancies and out of these, I doubt all of the babies will be abandoned or put into foster care. Thus, it's not a guarantee. However, if condoms were not available otc, there would be a huge epidemic of STDs. That's what I mean by saying that not having condoms would affect society much more than not having pcp. However, the debate here is whether or not pcp should be available over the counter. There are numerous ways to prevent pregnancy and EVEN if you do need pcp, it is available, just not otc. Which brings me to my next point.
i never said anything about not going in for an std check if a condom breaks or if you didn't use one. but the thing is, a lot of people don't even know about PP, so they might not think to go and get an ebc there. if it was available as an otc, they would have easier access to it.
Pcp is currently available as a prescription. So if they need to go in for an std check like you said, then it shouldn't matter if pcp is not available otc or not. They should go in to see the doctor, get a pcp, and also get checked out for stds.
about using a secondary precaution, such as spermicide or a diaphram, well if you really didn't think to use a primary precaution such as condoms, why would you use a secondary one?
I only mentioned spermicide and a diaphram because you suggested that pcp can be used as a secondary precaution. "while that is not the best situation, luckily you can still go to plan parenthod the next morning and get an ebc to prevent an unwanted pregnancy." I'm just saying that spermicides and a diaphram is a better secondary precaution.
also there are rape victims that never report what happened to them. either they are ashamed or think it is their fault. they don't go to the er for an exam and an ebc. they don't go to pp for an ebc. if at least an ebc was available as an otc, then perhaps they would be more comfortable there.
This last point is definitely an opinion piece. Yes, there are many rape victims who never report what happened to them and they should. Why you believe that this is the reason why pcp should be available otc, I think this is why I don't want pcp to be available otc. These women NEED to go see a doctor to check for STDs and get an pcp. I think that by keeping the pcp with the doctors, it will make women more inclined to go see a doctor as opposed to not reporting the rape.
This debate reminds me of football. If anyone here is a football fan, they would know that there is this rule that if a decision was made on the field, the coaches have a chance to challenge the ruling. However, the decision will only be change if there was overwhelming evidence for it to change. The current situation is that pcp is not available otc. From the way I see it, I think the pros associated with pcp requiring a prescription far outweigh the cons. True, there are benefits to having pcp as an otc drug. However, none of these benefits seem large enough or consistent enough for it to change to an otc drug.