The chemist Boots has been criticised for not lowering the cost of the morning-after pill because of fears it would encourage over-use. This comes despite the fact campaigners persuaded other pharmacies to cut the cost of emergency contraception in half.
It has prompted calls for people to boycott the high-street pharmacy chain. We asked for our readers’ views. Here is what you said.
Ella, 18, from Leeds: ‘Women are too often punished for taking control of their own reproductive health’
The morning-after pill is incredibly expensive, especially when compared to the price in countries such as France. It’s emergency contraception, and some women don’t have a spare £15-£30 to hand. Lowering the cost would not “incentivise inappropriate use”. Most women don’t want the stress of a potential pregnancy in the first place.
If chemists charge a lot for the morning-after pill, more women are going to have unwanted pregnancies. This will presumably lead to more terminations, which costs more in the long-term. Women are too often punished socially and financially for taking control of their own sexual and reproductive health. Chemists like Boots have no right to do this.
Amy, 28, from Dorset: ‘Boots statement on this is patronising and backward’
I plan to boycott Boots. Not necessarily because of the price point, but because of their judgmental statement which implies their moral authority on the sexual behaviour of women. The statement is patronising and backward, and is a very thinly veiled attack on female sexual behaviour.
I would also question the legitimacy of their comment regarding “incentivising inappropriate use”. Boots has a webpage of “hangover cures” – does this not facilitate inappropriate use of alcohol? Where is their moral stance on this?
My final point is that I am not sure what they are trying to achieve. If a young person, for example, is in a situation where they require the morning-after pill, it is already too late. Does Boots believe that this individual will think to themselves: “Well, this medication is too expensive so I cannot purchase it. I guess I will turn back the magical hands of time and use a condom!” I also don’t believe it would have any significant impact on their future actions, and may have an imminent life-changing consequence – pregnancy.
Jessica, 35, from Colchester: ‘It angers me to read that it is much cheaper in Europe’
I used to think that the morning-after pill was £25 because it cost that much. It angers me to read that it is much cheaper in Europe. It makes me very uncomfortable that a leading and well-respected family brand like Boots should be keeping it at this price.
The high cost of the morning-after pill means that a lot of women will decide to leave it up to chance. Young girls who are too embarrassed to go to their GP will also not be able to afford it, leaving them possibly with an unwanted pregnancy.
Recently, my coil failed and I had to have it removed. I was told that, as I had had sex in the 48 hours before that, I should get the morning-after pill. The cost of the pill was the most important reason why I decided to take a chance and not take it. I had recently had a baby, was breastfeeding and my periods had not yet restarted so considered the odds. I did not have £25 to waste. My husband is a nurse and I am a part-time teacher – if we couldn’t afford it, what about others who have a lower income?
Ali, 33, from London: ‘When I was a student living off £50 a week, £20 for the morning-after pill was a lot’
It is too expensive for some people. That someone is making profit from it undermines the idea of making it available to all. When I was a student living off £50 a week, £20 for the morning-after pill was a lot. In sixth form, the local GUM clinic was only open two days a week, so waiting to go there was not an option.
Since moving to London, a GP appointment is often not available for three weeks so that’s not an option either. Taking a day out of work or education to sit in a walk-in clinic reception, with other people who need more urgent help, is a waste of everyone’s time and effort.
The impact is that the morning-after pill isn’t actually an option for some women. If it’s not an option and a woman gets pregnant then they will rely on more invasive procedures and difficult decisions. Not all men think to offer a contribution towards the morning-after pill when they are as responsible or just as unlucky as the woman involved.
May, 28, from London: ‘There is a lot of misinformation around the morning after pill. It’s not magic’
It’s a question of budgeting. I’m lucky in that my boyfriend and I between us have a significant enough disposable income that we can easily handle this. However, there are plenty of women for whom this would be a big chunk out of their week. I haven’t been in their shoes, but maybe it would make me more likely to chance it. I think of far more concern for me is the misinformation around the morning-after pill. It’s not magic. A lot of women don’t know that it delays ovulation rather than stops implanting and I know from friends that this can lead to women being blasé.
Jessica, 55 from Bournemouth: ‘It is absurd to think it being cheap encourages women to use it’
It should be free like other forms of medical contraceptives. It is absurd to think it being cheap encourages women to use it. What it does is ensure the myriad disadvantages of an unwanted pregnancy are avoided.
This paternalistic attitude has to stop. If they had been available when I was fertile I would have had a spare one in my medicine cabinet just in case my contraceptive of choice – barrier method – failed. How many women have spent sleepless nights waiting to know if they have got away with unprotected or contraceptive failure? We now have a tool to cut the stress, so why restrict it?
Sonia, 29, from Glasgow: ‘If a man needed to get this, it would be free’
Just like tampons and sanitary towels, if a man needed to buy these items, they would be free. This is not a casual comment, it’s just that historically men have been in power. If they had periods, were able to get pregnant, they might have done a few things differently.
We talk about gender equality but is it really equal that women have to pay so much money per month towards items for which are quite literally essential. While the pill may not be thought of as quite so “essential” (isn’t it?) – the fact that it costs what it does is endemic of the attitude towards women and sex.
Some names have been changed
