DrEd, a British website that bills itself as "the online medical practice for everyone," is launching an emergency contraception bike delivery service that promises to discreetly deliver the morning after pill to any London location within two hours for £20 — as the website points out, that's "about £5 less than it would cost to walk into a pharmacy and order the morning after pill over the counter."
The website says the service, which requires a credit card and confirmation that the client is 18 or over, will be "of value" for two very excellent reasons:
• Clinically, emergency contraception works better the sooner you take it, so having it delivered to you within 2 hours of ordering will make it more likely to be effective;
• Socially, some people are still put off by having to answer questions face to face about why they need emergency contraception. The service gets all of the necessary information via an online questionnaire that is reviewed by a doctor, so it can avoid potential embarrassment.
At DrEd we're keen to make healthcare more accessible and this new service is part of that commitment.
How practical! How sane! How predictable that the plan isn't going over well with critics who don't care about the adult women who could benefit from the service because of all the underage girls who could potentially lie about their age and start popping Plan B like candy. (or, you know, ecstasy, if we're going for all out fear-mongering here.)
Norman Wells, from the Family Education Trust, told the London Evening Standard that "young people have been lulled into a false sense of security ... and become exposed to an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections" thanks to the morning after pill.
But Amit Khutti, DrEd's founder, said he doubted minors would be interested in the service, which requires a credit card, not to mention money. "If you're young there are a number of places you can already get the morning after pill free," he said, stressing that the service is crucial because emergency contraception is more effective the sooner you take it.
The low-key importance of this simple yet pretty brilliant messenger service is further highlighted by the news that, across the globe, the Honduras Congress is considering legislation that would actually jail women for using the morning after pill, with no exceptions in any cases. Here's an online petition you can sign. As the saying goes: one small step for woman, one giant emergency contraception bike messenger service for womankind.
Morning-after pill to be delivered by courier to your desk [London Evening Standard]
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