Sharon Camp, the driving force behind the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B, died aged 81.
It was discovered in 1972 that high doses of contraceptives taken soon after unprotected sex could prevent pregnancy, but the treatment was mainly only used in cases of rape. Some European countries approved emergency contraception in the 1990s, but the effort was more controversial in the US.
Camp, who herself nearly died after an illegal abortion, wanted to make reproductive medicine safer, and founded a pharmaceutical company to produce the drug, almost single-handedly winning regulatory approval despite political opposition. She hoped that Plan B would reduce polarization over reproductive health, because it prevents pregnancies rather than ending them: “It’s the anti-abortion pill,” she said in 2003.
