Obama said that as he understood it, Sebelius was wary of a 10-year-old or 11-year-old going into a drugstore and buying a medication — one on the shelves next to "the bubble gum and batteries" — that could be harmful if not used properly.
Stores, though, were never likely to put the [morning-after pill] near chewing gum or batteries. It was going to go on shelves by condoms, spermicides and pregnancy tests.
The rhetorical emphasis on the potential for 11- and 12-year-old girls to use the pill also rankled advocates.
There are no age restrictions on other over-the-counter drugs that could potentially have serious side-effects in young children.
These "advocates" just don't get it. It is not about this being placed next to bubble gum - that is an oversimplification.
But we are seeing fourth graders and fifth graders engaing in sex. Yes, that young. When a child of that age gets a cold, they do not go and buy OTC medications for themselves. They complain - be it to a parent or a school nurse - and the adult determines what will be administered, be it an OTC remedy or chicken soup.
But a child that age is unlikely to go say, "Mommy, I had sex last night . . ." And especially when the situation may involve a young girl with an older male. If available, they would go and buy the morning-after pill. They have already made a poor choice by engaging in sex. They are children. Can anyone imagine a scared 11-year-old - perhaps urged by a stupid 16-year-old or an uncaing 25-year-old male or a pimp in human sex trafficking - swallowing multiple doses "just to be sure?" Yes, I can. It is frightening enough to think of a child this age engaging in sexual relations - the tragedy does not need to be compounded.
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