BRITISH EXPERIMENT SHOWS "EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION" MAY SPREAD STDS

London, Nov. 4 (Culture of Life Foundation/CWNews.com) - Great Britain is experiencing an explosion of sexually transmitted diseases, especially among the young. According to British government figures, infections across the board have grown rapidly at least since 1996.

Figures released last May from the Public Health Laboratory Service show that syphilis among British men has grown 612 percent in the six years ending in 2001 while similar infections in women have grown 206 percent. In the same time period, chlamydia infections for men and women have grown more than 100 percent, while herpes, genital warts, and gonorrhea have all grown substantially.

Some fear that a four-year-old public health experiment may contribute to what some are calling an impending public health emergency. In 1999 the British government started giving out free "emergency contraception" to women and girls in some local pharmacies. "Emergency contraception" is a heightened level of the regular contraceptive pill that when taken within 72 hours of intercourse can prevent a fertilized embryo from implanting in the mother's uterus. In this effect, emergency contraception causes an abortion.

Prior to 1999 most women who thought they were newly pregnant and wanted to end the pregnancy and who did not want to wait for a surgical abortion were required to get a doctor's prescription for "emergency contraception," a process that could take more than the prescribed 72 hours. Besides adult women, the new experiment allowed girls as young as 16 to receive the drug. And the girls are allowed to receive this over-the-counter abortifacient without parental consent.

Public health officials do not tell the women and girls that "emergency contraception" can cause abortion. It is marketed simply as a contraceptive and as something of a guarantee of avoiding pregnancy, a guarantee that experts fear can lead to risky behavior. More than one girl and several pharmacists confirmed this with researchers from the University of Nottingham, sponsors of the "emergency contraception" experiment. One girl told researchers "...if I hadn't known I could have got (sic) it (emergency contraception) so easily, I would have been more careful, to be honest."

Even some of the pharmacists, who were almost unanimous in support of the program, were sometimes critical. Some pharmacists reported girls asking repeatedly for the drug. Some of them feared the easy availability of the drug would lead to sexual promiscuity and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, a fear possibly born out by the burgeoning disease rate.

The most controversial aspect of the program focuses on giving the drug to girls as young as 16, especially without parental consent. One pharmacist reported a girl as young as ten years old requesting the drug.