Where to buy a Plan B 'morning after pill' in Wilmington after Roe v. Wade decision
Only weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, pharmacies are reporting a backlash as women prepare for worst case scenarios.
Sales of emergency contraceptives or "morning-after pills" have increased dramatically in the aftermath of the Roe v. Wade decision.
The contraceptives, like the popular Plan B, are single-dose pills that can be taken after unprotected sex, or in the instance birth control fails, to lower the chances of becoming pregnant.
USA Today reported telehealth provider Wisp sold 30 times as many emergency contraceptives the day the Supreme Court’s decision was released compared to the day before. Online prescription company Nurx saw a 300% increase in the weeks after the draft opinion was leaked in early May.
Nationally, price gouging has also been reported with online merchants offering Plan B for as much as $150 – a 200% markup from the original price, on e-Bay.
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The immediate panic that came after Roe was overturned in late June resulted in some companies placing purchase limits on the number of pills people could purchase to prevent stockpiling.
Retail pharmacies like CVS limiting customers to three packages to keep the drug stocked and to meet the increase in sales. Amazon also has a three-unit limit on sales of emergency contraceptives, according to its website.
But while pharmacy chains and online retailers are seeing stock flying off the shelves, locally-owned druggists say their stocks have remained steady.
Prices of Plan B locally are also stable and generally range from $39.90 to $49.99 for a single pill. Walmart in Wilmington lists the drug at $46.87, while CVS offers it for $49.99, according to online pricing information from each store.
In North Carolina, abortion is still legal until the point of viability around halfway through a pregnancy, and that isn’t likely to change until Republicans take control of the governor's office or gain a supermajority in the state general assembly.
Local pharmacy chains say they also don’t have a large customer base of young people who may need morning-after pills.
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A pharmacist at Cape Fear Pharmacy and Compound Center, 5235 College Road, said while the store does sell Plan B, they don’t frequently have customers in need of it.
Another local drug store, Market Street Pharmacy at 1612 Market St., only sells a morning-after pill package “once in a while” and hasn’t seen any major changes in demand in recent weeks.
Plan B also remains widely available at Planned Parenthood. North Carolina has nine Planned Parenthood locations, including in Wilmington, 1925 Tradd Court, and Fayetteville, 4551 Yadkin Road, as well as Charlotte, Asheville, Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, Durham, Greensboro and Raleigh.
Another option, said local nurse and patient advocate Marla Barthen, is getting an intrauterine device (IUD) put in. If put in within a few days of unprotected sex, IUDs can also act as emergency contraceptives, and IUDs are more than 99% effective as a long-term birth control, specifically the brands Paragard and Mirena. IUDs can be put in by an obstetrician-gynecologist and include hormonal or non-hormonal options.
Barthen said pro-choice advocates are concerned IUDs could become more difficult to obtain because of the Roe decision. They are often recommended by health care providers, she said, because they last for up to seven years and are easily reversible.
With insurance, IUDs and other birth controls that contain the ingredient levonorgestrel, the same as what is in Plan B, are much more reliable and affordable than morning-after pills.
Even before Roe was overturned, morning-after pills were frequently kept in locked shelves at pharmacies.
Doctors do not recommend using morning after pills regularly as birth control – other types of birth control like the pill, IUDs, or contraceptives like condoms should be used to prevent pregnancy, and morning after pills are meant for emergencies. The drug has a four-year shelf life.
Reporter Sydney Hoover can be reached at 910-343-2339 or shoover@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Where to buy Plan B pill in Wilmington after Roe v. Wade decision?
