The Minister for Health and Social Services has announced that the ‘morning-after’ pill will go on sale in pharmacies, without the need for prescription, in about three months time.
The initiative, the Strategy on Sexual and Reproductive Health, has been prepared in conjunction with the Minister for Equality, Bibiana Aído.
Research on the prescrption-free sale of the pill in the UK, France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg and the United States has shown that the number of unwanted pregnancies in these countries has declined ‘significantly’ as a result.
In Spain, there were 112,000 abortions carried out during 2007, of which 6,000 related to girls under the age of 18 years.
The Minister was keen to stress that the morning-after pill is an emergency contraceptive measure and should not be used as a basic means of preventing pregnancy. Minister Jiménez added that, although there are no known side effects to the drug, it is nevertheless a hormonal drug and should not be abused.
Again, based on research in other countries, the Minister said there was no evidence that the drug was being abused.