FDA Recommendation For Over-The-Counter Access To Plan B Overruled

8 Dec 2011
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In what can only be called an astounding move by an Administration that pledged on inauguration day that medical and health decisions would be based on fact not ideology and for which women are a major constituency, today Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) overruled a much-awaited decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make emergency contraception (EC) available over-the-counter (OTC) to women of all ages.

According to the New York Times, “no health secretary has ever [overruled an FDA decision] before.”

EC has been available over-the-counter for women ages 18 and older for at least two years. The FDA has been further reviewing data on whether the method should be available OTC without a prescription to those age 17 and younger at risk from unprotected intercourse.

In a statement this afternoon FDA underscored that it “had been carefully evaluating for over a decade whether emergency contraceptives containing levonorgestrel, such as Plan B One-Step, are safe and effective for nonprescription use to reduce the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse.”

[Source: Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check]

Can’t tell you how upset I am about this. Just getting the FDA recommendation required all kinds of bureaucratic hoop-jumping, and it’s a huge disappointment to be denied at the eleventh hour for what seem to be purely political reasons. Health-wise, there’s simply no justifiable excuse for not allowing greater access to Plan B. Sure, an 11-year-old might get their hands on it and that thought might make everyone collectively cringe, but really, let’s wake up. Kids have been robo-tripping in Suburbia USA for decades, America has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any first-world nation, and you’re telling me that the prospect of a minor using Plan B is soooo dangerous and scary that you’re going to make a historically unprecedented decision to overrule a bunch of medical experts and doctors who have testified that there are, in fact, much more dangerous and scary things already sitting on pharmacy shelves?

I just can’t deal with this world.

Related posts on emergency contraception:

Slut-Shaming, Truth-Telling, & Why Getting Real Is The First Step Of Activism
Reader Question: What Are The Side Effects Of Using Plan B As Regular Contraception?
Sex Really With Lena Chen: Back Up Your Birth Control