Abortion rights and anti-abortion activists are divided on the Food and Drug Administration’s recent ruling concerning the “Plan B”, or morning-after pill.

One of the primary reasons over-the-counter availability was denied for the morning-after pill stems from concern about the effects the pill could have on girls younger than 16, the FDA said.

The FDA said the possibility of overuse or abuse of the drug was also a concern.

According to a statement from Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, 2530 Chamberlain St., serious problems, such as blood clots, can occur with the regular use of birth control pills, but those results are rare.

According to the statement, it is still unknown whether these problems can occur when birth control pills are used as an emergency contraceptive pill.

A major issue that divides support for the drug is deciding whether the morning-after pill is a contraceptive or an abortive agent. A contraceptive prevents pregnancy, but an abortive agent ends an established pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood’s fact sheet said a sensitive urine pregnancy test should be done before taking any emergency contraceptive pill because the pill should not be used if the subject is already pregnant. There is no serious danger in taking the pill when pregnant, the statement said, but it will not terminate pregnancies since it is meant to prevent, not end, them.

Pregnancy cannot occur until the fertilized egg has attached to the uterine wall, where it can then grow into a fetus. The morning-after pill is called a contraceptive because it prevents this attachment.

Anti-abortion activists disagree with that interpretation.

“[There is] no question that the morning-after pill is an abortive — life begins at conception,” said the Rev. Scott Boone of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 2210 Lincoln Way.

Boone said he fully supports the FDA decision because once the egg is fertilized, it is alive.

“Contraception is artificial and helps to bring down the moral structure of society. It places feelings and emotions before human logic,” Boone said.

He said he thought the birth control pill should be banned.

Pastor John Anderson of Ascension Lutheran Church, Seventh Street and Kellogg Avenue, said use of the morning-after pill is “tantamount to abortion.”

Nikki Feuerstein, Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance president, said she is disappointed with the FDA decision.

Feuerstein said she feels that easier access to contraceptives would dramatically reduce the number of abortions and unwanted pregnancies. She said she feels the FDA is strongly influenced by the right-wing media.

Feuerstein also said she agreed more information is needed to make an educated decision.

Her main concern is not just the availability of contraceptives but the proper education to go with it.

“I’m pleased the door has been left open to allow makers of Plan B to resubmit if the drug is proven safe,” she said.