Battle over emergency contraceptives

Gynecologists in 2008 conducted a study on the prescription of emergency contraceptives at 30 OB/GYN clinics in downtown Seoul. Most prescriptions came in the summer holiday season and year`s end: July (25 percent of annual prescriptions), August (23.5 percent) and December (22.2 percent). Eighty percent of those who got prescriptions were single. OB/GYN clinics around summer vacation destinations are crowded with women who want to emergency contraceptives after vacationing with their boyfriends.

Emergency contraceptives contain 10 times more hormones such as estrogen than other pills. If taken within 72 hours, they can almost prevent pregnancy (80-90 percent) by blocking ovulation, fertilization and implantation. In Korea, such drugs require a doctor’s prescription because of side effects such as vomiting and nausea as a result of injecting high levels of hormones. Repeated use also might threaten health. The efficiency of the pill as tested on rape victims at first helped the contraceptives grow popular through word of mouth, leading to growth of the market from 3.4 billion won (3.1 million US dollars) in 2006 to 5.9 billion won (5.53 million dollars) last year.

Conflict between doctors and pharmacists is intensifying over the drug. The Korean Pharmaceutical Association claims that the drug should be categorized as over the counter, and civic groups are following suit. The Citizens Coalition for Economic Justice said, “You have to take an emergency contraceptive within 72 hours (after sex, so how can doctors find out if a woman is pregnant or not over that period?” The civic group added that the drug should be sold over the counter to respect a woman’s right to choose. Doctors are opposed, however, and even certain OB/GYN specialists say to allow them to sell emergency contraceptives at private clinics.

The sale of emergency contraceptives has caused a great stir in other countries as well. Many countries allow people to buy the drug over the counter. The George W. Bush administration of the U.S. opposed abortion but permitted 18-year-olds or older to buy emergency contraceptives without a prescription. In most European countries and China, people can buy the drug at a drugstore without prescription. Yet contentious issues must be socially agreed on for the drug`s conversion into an over-the-counter medication. Such issues include whether taking an emergency pill is tantamount to abortion, whether the pill encourages reckless premarital sex, and if a woman’s right to choose trumps her health. These are complex matters that go beyond the struggle between doctors and pharmacists.

Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee (shchung@donga.com)