Image – Shutterstock: Fahroni
The NHS has announced that the morning-after pill will now be available free of charge in almost every English pharmacy in what officials are describing as a major step forward for “reproductive healthcare,” ending what ministers called the “postcode lottery” in access to emergency contraception.
Almost 10,000 pharmacies will now be able to dispense the pill without cost, removing the need for women to make a GP appointment or attend a sexual health clinic. Previously, many pharmacies charged up to £30 for emergency contraception, a price some campaigners said created an unfair barrier to access.
Dr Sue Mann, the NHS’s national clinical director for women’s health, described the policy as “one of the biggest changes to sexual health services since the 1960s.” She said that from now on, women could “just pop into their local pharmacy and get the oral emergency contraceptive pill free of charge without needing to make an appointment.”
NHS England has emphasised that with four in five people living within a 20-minute walk of a pharmacy, the new measure will make supposed “care” more convenient and accessible.
Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, welcomed the national rollout but warned that pharmacies are under growing financial strain. “It is vital that they are sustainably funded so they can continue to provide services such as these,” he said.
SPUC is worried that such convenience and ease is another step to normalising the licentiousness that has led society into its current place.
It cannot be forgotten that there are grave ethical concerns associated with this drug. The morning-after pill can, in certain circumstances, prevent the implantation of a fertilised egg, effectively procuring an abortion. This aspect is rarely discussed and is not fully understood by those who take it.
Whilst the NHS has framed the change as a practical step towards better healthcare, we see it as part of a wider cultural shift that rewards recklessness and demonises the most vulnerable members of society: unborn babies. The National Health Service would be far better served promoting sexual responsibility.
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