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Change Your Life! |
‘Morning-after’---- pills in French schools |
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October 6, 2000
PARIS (AP) - France's National Assembly voted on Thursday to allow public school nurses to distribute a morning-after contraception pill in junior and senior high schools. The Socialist-government backed proposal still has to go through a second reading in the Senate before going into effect. Thursday's vote passed by a large majority. The pill, called Norlevo, is taken within 72 hours following intercourse and prevents pregnancy by blocking the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. Opponents claim it amounts to abortion. Last year, Socialist Deputy Education Minister Segolene Royal authorized school nurses to give out the pill, which is available in pharmacies without a doctor's prescription for 58 francs (about dlrs 8). But the Council of State, which is responsible for interpreting the constitutionality of French laws, later struck down Royal's decision, citing a 1967 law which requires that certain category of drugs be prescribed by physicians. In Norway, the morning-after pill became available without a physician's prescription on Monday. |