FDA Allows 17-Year-Olds to Purchase Morning After Pill Over the Counter

Members of the HVCL and various prolife groups have been fighting this battle for quite some time. Visits to local representatives, like Sany Galef and Suzi Oppenheimer to name two, asking for their help to prevent this affront to the health of minors and parental rights, went nowhere. We asked legislators to play devil's advocate on an agenda-related issue they promote because the consequences for women, long and short term, were not sufficiently explored. Another common sense battle lost to the abortion industry. "Big Abortion" just marches on and on...This medical time bomb should outrage women! Where are their voices? Must more children die? Here are two items about this latest travesty.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The FDA on Wednesday made the final decision to allow 17-year-old teenage girls to purchase the morning after pill over the counter instead of having to obtain it via a doctor's prescription. The decision comes after a court ruling last month ordering that Plan B be made available over the counter to those 17 and up. The FDA said in a statement that it would not appeal the court's decision. In the order, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman also asked the agency to consider whether the pill should be available to women of all ages without a prescription, saying that such a determination is best left to the expertise of the FDA rather than a federal district judge. He also criticized the FDA for departing from its normal standards by having different standards for the drug for different ages. In August 2006, the FDA approved the sale of Plan B without a prescription to those 18 and older, but those 17 and under needed a prescription to obtain it. While Planned Parenthood hailed the decision, Concerned Women for America was disappointed by it. "Plan B is a high dose of birth control pills. ... The FDA violated its standards when it made the high-dose Plan B available nonprescription to adults. But now the FDA is making the drug available to minors without parental consent," the group said. "Parents should be furious that the FDA is putting their minor daughters at risk." Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the FDA's acting commissioner at the time the decision was made, said the agency did not approve the drug for sales to teenagers because Barr, its manufacturer, had not provided enough information about how the morning after pill affects them. CWA says selling the morning after pill over the counter will make it easier for men who abuse young women to cover up their crimes. "Any adult male who is having sex with a minor could walk into a pharmacy, buy the drug, and coax the girl into taking the pill," she said.

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Pro-Life Advocates Disappointed Obama Admin Oks Morning After Pill for Girls
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Top pro-life groups are upset that the Obama administration, through the Food and Drug Administration, has allowed 17-year-old girls the ability to purchase the morning after pill over the counter. The decision came on the heels of a federal court decision, but Family Research Council says “without so much as a whimper, it seems the Obama administration will acquiesce to” the ruling and “allow 17-year-olds to buy the morning-after pill without a prescription or their parents' consent.” The Obama administration refused to appeal the ruling to a higher court, which disappoints Perkins. “The Department of Justice should be called in to defend the FDA guidelines on Plan B. In this case, however, the Obama administration has decided to roll over and accept the court decision without a single appeal,” he said. “Essentially, the President is allowing a lone federal district judge to make a scientific decision that affects the health and safety of women across America. For the young administration, it shows an incredible disinclination to fight for good policy.” Meanwhile, Deirdre McQuade, a spokeswoman for the pro-life office of the nation’s Catholic bishops, told LifeNews.com that the Obama administration’s decision will result in more abortions, because the drug can sometimes cause them, and hurt parental rights. “Wider access to Plan B could endanger the lives of newly-conceived children, and will put minors at risk for unnecessary side effects, undermine parental rights, and contribute to higher STD rates,” she said. “Although Plan B can prevent fertilization, the manufacturer admits it may also prevent an embryo from implanting in the womb, which is essential to his or her continued survival. Since it takes several days for the growing embryo to reach the uterine lining and implant in the mother’s womb, the child in his or her second week of life could die as a direct result of Plan B. This is properly understood as an early abortion.” She says teens will likely not know then unless pointed out to them by a physician.