Obama’s FDA Inexplicably Fails to Advance New Emergency Contraception Rules

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http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/03/25/down-again-obama-inexplicably-fails-advance-emergency-contraception-rules


Let Down Again: Obama’s FDA Inexplicably Fails to Advance New Emergency Contraception Rules


The first year of the Obama presidency is increasingly feeling like one of those maddening romantic relationships for many pro-choice supporters -- brimming with promise in the beginning, but during the actual courtship, rife with disappointments. This week is perhaps the most heartbreaking. It almost goes without saying that the president’s decision to cut a deal with anti-choice Democrats in the healthcare debate this past weekend and sign an executive order reiterating current law banning federal funding for abortion left many of us reeling. But this week also marks the one-year anniversary of a court ruling on emergency contraception that remains unenforced, and is a reminder of yet another key failing in reproductive health on the part of the Obama administration.

In March 2009, a federal judge delivered a blistering opinion to the Food and Drug Administration, condemning the agency’s Bush-era political appointees for ignoring the scientific evidence and restricting access to emergency contraception, a critical tool in preventing unwanted pregnancies and addressing the consequences of rape.

In its decision, the court ordered FDA to reconsider limits on access to emergency contraception. Yet no progress has apparently been made over the past year to remove the senseless and unjustified age limits, or to relocate emergency contraception where it belongs - out from behind pharmacy counters and next to the condoms and contraceptive jelly in a regular aisle.

Today, emergency contraception, also called the “morning after pill” and available under the trade names Plan B, One-Step, and Next Choice is available without a prescription, but only for women age 17 and older. Pharmacies and clinics must keep it behind the counter and anyone seeking to buy it must show government issued identification proving their age in order to buy it without a prescription.

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Judge Korman ordered the FDA to permit Plan B to be made available to 17-year-olds without a prescription immediately and to reconsider all of the remaining restrictions. Since the decision, the FDA has made EC available without a prescription to women 17 and older, an important but limited gain. But 12 months and multiple requests for information later, the FDA remains silent regarding its other unprecedented and unwarranted restrictions.

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We expect the FDA to safeguard our nation’s health by making decisions based on sound, well-documented science, not political or ideological imperatives. A federal court ruling has already demanded action -- and public health demands quick action as well. The FDA should stop dragging its heels and make emergency contraception available over the counter to all women without restriction. With backtracking on abortion now encoded in the law, access to emergency contraception looks now more important than ever.
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come on Obama and team, us women are watching you all. and you know what that means.

[dipsydoodle]

1. Sounds like they're not sure whether

they're coming or going.

[katandmoon]

2. Shocker. Not.

[IndianaGreen]

3. They appease the religious right because they believe in that crap

which explains the millions of dollars they are still giving to faith based abstinence program.

The government shouldn't be in the faith based system. Let someone else be in the stoning business.