Life

New Yorkers Can Now Get Plan B Delivered

by Eliza Castile

We live in the future, people. A glorious future where drones drop off your online shopping orders and New York City bodegas deliver Plan B straight to your door — all of which can be accomplished from the comfort of your blanket burrito on the couch. Although the drone thing has been around for a while, Plan B delivery is a new development, even though right now, it only pertains to one particular bodega: On Thursday, DNAInfo reported that Corner Grocers, a bodega in the Lower East Side, includes emergency contraception to the list of items deliverable through the online food ordering service Seamless.

In a statement provided to Bustle over email, Seamless wrote,

"Bodegas — like Corner Grocery — are a part of New York’s charm, offering customers a wide variety of food and non-food options. We provide our restaurant partners, including bodegas, with the opportunity to sell non-food for the convenience of our users, including over-the-counter medications where it is legal under state and local laws. Our restaurants and bodegas are contractually obligated to us to comply with applicable law, and we are committed to doing the same. Pricing on the Seamless platform is set at the discretion of the bodega or restaurant but is required to be consistent with the price a customer would find in-store or at the restaurant. It is also worth noting that Grubhub has a zero tolerance policy for illegal substances or menu items on its platforms, but we have found this bodega to be in compliance with our policies. We regularly monitor menus and notify a restaurant when an item must be removed under applicable laws and regulations."

Intended as a backup plan for when contraception fails, Plan B One Step reduces the chance of pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. The FDA approved over-the-counter access for people over 18 in 2006, and in 2013, it became available to people of all ages without a prescription.

Three years later, New Yorkers don't even have to get out of bed to have it delivered, provided they're willing to pay a hefty markup. On Corner Grocers' Seamless page, Plan B is listed as $76.99 alongside locally-sourced coffee and ginger-wheatgrass shots. According to Planned Parenthood, Plan B usually costs between $40 and $50, so convenience comes at a cost. But if it's payday, and the need is particularly great, some people might go for it.

A bodega employee told The Cut that Plan B became available through Seamless about six months ago. Earlier this week, though, a New York City Reddit thread noted its existence, and several news outlets subsequently picked up the story.

According to Jezebel, Plan B is or was available through Seamless at a few other stores around the country. If you're not a resident of New York City, aka the world leader in having things delivered, you can also find it on Amazon. Just, you know, remember that the effectiveness of morning after pills like Plan B decreases as time goes on, so if you're going to order it online, make sure it's going to get there on time. (I'd also be careful buying it online in general — it's not unheard of for counterfeit goods to make their way onto online marketplaces of all types.)

In fact, if you have the money, it can't hurt to stock up while you're at it — unless you find that you enjoy the novelty of having contraception brought to your door. If this is where the future of technology is headed, I'm a big fan.

This post has been edited to include additional information from Seamless.

Images: Getty Images; Giphy