A federal court judge Friday refused to grant an extension of time to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in a long-running case concerning access to emergency contraception.
The debate is characterized by anti-abortion anxiety and aversion to subsidized contraception.
Once again, politics have trumped science, and it’s women and girls who pay the price.
The Obama administration announced it was appealing a federal court order that lifted age-restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception.
The Obama administration’s newest plan to make emergency contraception over-the-counter to some groups and not others only creates more confusion and a new set of barriers to access. I guess this administration would rather play Russian Roulette with teen pregnancy than make it easier to prevent.
Inaccurate arguments posed by anti-choicers against emergency contraception are not about the health and safety of women and girls: Rather, their claims about EC’s safety are proxies for moral disapproval of sex.
The judgment is littered with scathing descriptions of bad faith, politically-motivated maneuvering, and unbelievable wastes of time and taxpayers’ money as well as jaw-dropping legal mistakes—all of which go well beyond the language one expects to find in typical legal opinions.
In a long-awaited decision released early this morning, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman ordered the FDA to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter to women of all ages, marking a major win for public health and women’s rights.
It is an outrage that not only may it be difficult to physically access Plan B but also lack of information regarding emergency contraceptives can serve as an obstacle for young women who have been sexually assaulted.
The nation’s doctors are speaking up for expanded access to contraception. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists endorsed making oral contraceptives available without a prescription and emergency contraception over-the-counter. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggested that pediatricians give young women prescriptions for Emergency Contraception before they need it.
