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Woman Shot for Not Taking Morning After Pill

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By Wesley Juhl. A woman who survived being shot in the head Saturday may have been ambushed for not taking the morning-after pill, according to arrest records obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday.

Metro officers called to an apartment complex at 5400 W. Cheyenne Ave., near Rancho Drive, found Breyana Lewis with a bullet fragment in her head. Lewis was shot at multiple times while in her car in the parking lot.

Daquesha Fowler, 20, and Gregory Myrick, 21, were taken into custody in connection with the shooting about two hours later. Arrest records detail a love triangle taking a violent turn.

Lewis told officers with Las Vegas police’s Violent Crimes Section that she had been having a sexual relationship with Myrick for two months, and Fowler, who was Myrick’s fiancee, fired at her with a type of green, long gun rifle, the report said.

Lewis told police that she was having an argument with Myrick, who was angry at her for not taking the morning-after pill and possibly being pregnant. During their exchange, Myrick was texting someone. (Read more about the young woman who was apparently shot for not taking morning after pill HERE)

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Abortion Number One Killer of Black Population

By Kathy Allen. As we begin the year 2015 here in Louisiana, we look forward with hope in the knowledge of last year’s successes and understanding the ongoing challenges for the pro-life community. As a Black woman and single mom, I am well aware of the issues that influence decisions about life for ourselves and our children.

Data for 2014 is not yet in, but we know that in 2013 6,000 Black women decided to end the lives of their unborn babies in abortion clinics across our state. That’s 6,000 boys and girls – potential educators, health care professionals, clergy, athletes, contributors to art and music – who never took a breath. The deaths from abortion in the Black community were more than the combined total of deaths from HIV, cancer and heart disease.

Black women had 60 percent of all abortions in Louisiana in 2013, although we are only 32 percent of the population. One in every five Black babies in our state died in an abortion clinic. The fact is, ABORTION IS THE NO. 1 KILLER OF BLACK PEOPLE IN LOUISIANA. (Read more about the number one killer of black population HERE)

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Court Order: Generic Morning-After Pills Must Be On Sale to All Ages in US, Without Restriction

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Photo Credit: AP

Generic versions of emergency contraception can be sold without a prescription or age restrictions while the federal government appeals a judge’s ruling allowing the sales, an appeals court said Wednesday.

The brief order issued by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan permitted two-pill versions of emergency contraception to immediately be sold without restrictions, but the court refused to allow unrestricted sales of Plan B One-Step until it decides the merits of the government’s appeal. It did not specify why the two-pill versions were being allowed now, though it said the government failed to meet the requirements necessary to block the lower-court decision.

The order was welcomed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, where President Nancy Northup called it a “historic day for women’s health.”

“Finally, after more than a decade of politically motivated delays, women will no longer have to endure intrusive, onerous and medically unnecessary restrictions to get emergency contraception,” she said in a statement.

The center’s litigation director, Julie Rickelman, said the government has two weeks to decide whether to appeal the 2nd Circuit’s decision on the stay to the full appeals court or the Supreme Court. Even if there is no appeal of the stay ruling, it was unclear how soon drugstores would move the two-pill emergency contraception from behind the counter. She said she hoped the pills would be available without restriction within a month.

Read more from this story HERE.

National Pediatric Group Recommends Children Get Morning After Pill Before Sex

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A national pediatric association is recommending that doctors prescribe women age 17 and younger the morning-after pill in advance of them actually needing it, under the assumption that they will be more likely to use the emergency contraceptive if they don’t have to make a doctor’s visit at the time.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued the new policy statement Monday. According to a report by Reuters on the statement, which is published in the December issue of Pediatrics, the group believes that because federal law prevents over-the-counter sales of such contraception to those under age 18, the teens will be more likely prevent unwanted pregnancy if they already had the necessary prescription on hand.

The battle for over-the-counter availability for emergency contraceptives was in the spotlight last year as the Food and Drug Administration overturned a 2005 ruling that prevented teens from obtaining pills like Plan B without a prescription. The Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius though overruled the FDA’s decision maintaining the requirement for a prescription for minors.

Reuters reported former FDA assistant commissioner for woman’s health, Susan Wood, saying of AAP’s new policy that “it’s not often you see physician organizations saying that their patients are better off without the physician involvement.”

Read more from this story HERE.

NYC schools give out morning-after pills to students — without telling parents (+video)

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The Department of Education is giving morning-after pills and other birth-control drugs to students at 13 high schools, The Post has learned.

School nurse offices stocked with the contraceptives can dispense “Plan B” emergency contraception and other oral or injectable birth control to girls without telling their parents — unless parents opt out after getting a school informational letter about the new program.

CATCH — Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health — is part of a citywide attack against the epidemic of teen pregnancy, which spurs many girls — most of them poor — to drop out of school.

While Big Apple high schools have long supplied free condoms to sexually active teens, this is the first time city schools have dispensed hormonal birth control and Plan B, which can prevent pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex.

It might be a nationwide first as well. The National Association of School Nurses could cite no other school district supplying Plan B. Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s an NYC news report that provides additional detail about what the Department of Education is doing: