August 6, 2007

Letters Make a Difference

Recently, Seneca’s Daily Journal published Plan B Prevents Pregnancy written by Don Downing, Consultant to the South Carolina Emergency Contraception Campaign.
To show support, one of our TellThem! members, Carol Fritze, wrote a letter to the editor, which was published! (Thank you Carol!) In it, she states that she hopes “it was read by those who need to know the difference between “Plan B” and RU-486″.
We couldn’t agree more. When we are out in the community, we find that a lot of individuals do not know the difference and think that Plan B is the same thing as RU-486, or the abortion pill. Plan B, a concentrated dose of the same hormones as regular birth control pills, is a medication that prevents pregnancy up to three days after unprotected or unwanted sex. It will not cause an abortion.
Carol’s great letter was followed by another by Dr. Gerald B. Holzman. Dr. Holzman responded to a July 6th letter written by Dr. Pirkle (Life begins at conception) by stating:
“It should be understood that Dr. Pirkle offered his opinion, not that of the scientific community. The mechanism probably does not interfere with implantation, and is currently not well understood. Furthermore, when life begins can be argued from an ethical, scientific, and religious standpoint and religious views have changed over the millenia. It would be prudent if Dr. Pirkle followed the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice in his statements to the press and his patients.”
We commend Dr. Holzman for explaining how EC works and taking the time, as a busy physician, to show support and to write. Letters to the editor can make a difference. If you would like tips on writing a letter to the editor, please check out our advocacy toolkit on members’ home.