The morning-after pill is a well-known and safe method of emergency contraception, which is available without a prescription in many European countries. In Poland, access to it has been limited for the last 8 years, during the PiS government. February 22 this year The Sejm passed an amendment to the pharmaceutical law, which provides for the abolition of prescriptions for the morning-after pill. The Senate adopted the bill in its entirety without amendments on March 6. Since then, President Andrzej Duda had 21 days to sign the bill, refer it to the Constitutional Tribunal or veto it. The document is still waiting for the signature of the head of state.
However, the Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna announced that despite the presidential veto (which is rather expected), Ella One will be available in Poland without a prescription from May 1 this year, pursuant to an amendment to the regulation. There is strong opposition to this solution on the right side of the political scene.
The morning-after pill in Poland. How many 15-year-olds used it?
A common argument is that “teenagers will swallow it like candy.” Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, there is no evidence of it, which is also consistent with the latest data from the Ministry of Health. Let us recall that President Andrzej Duda called the pill “dangerous for mothers”, “sick” and “unhealthy” – contrary to what the medical community claims about it.
Minister Leszczyna provided them in an interview with TVN24. The head of the Ministry of Health revealed how many teenagers between 15 and 17 years of age used this method of emergency contraception. In 2023, 15-year-old girls accounted for only 2 percent of all teenagers who used Ella One. Last year, 1,937 people aged 15-17 used the pill.
Izabela Leszczyna assured that she does not expect teenagers to buy morning-after pills on a mass scale in the near future. There are no grounds for this. – It’s not like 15-year-olds will take pills – she explained on TVN24. – If we say that it will be available from the age of 18, we will be hypocrites and hypocrites like, unfortunately, conservative MPs who pretend that there are no secret abortions and pretend that women do not buy these pills in prescription machines – she emphasized.
– The sooner a woman takes such a pill, the greater the chance that fertilization will not occur, i.e. there will be no pregnancy. This is not an abortion pill, she reminded.
Duda claims that the morning-after pill is “sick”. “He was misled”
She also said a few words about an “emergency plan” in the event of a presidential veto. – I have a regulation prepared – she said, adding that she is still in talks with representatives of the pharmaceutical community to clarify all its details. – I have prepared a regulation that takes advantage of the competences that pharmacists already have today. I am in constant dialogue with pharmacists. We are finalizing the details of what the provisions of this regulation should read – she explained.
In my opinion, the president was misled. He was talking about some kind of hormone bomb, some consequences, some health hazards. It was not me who came up with the idea that this pill (…) is available in 25 European Union countries without a prescription, without any restrictions. Only in Ireland from the age of 16
– she pointed out.
Source: Gazeta
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