Further Reading on Emergency Contraception

(most recent item first)

FDA approves Plan B over-the-counter access for 17-year-olds

Guttmacher Media Center
April 24, 2009

On April 22, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will allow 17-year-olds to purchase the emergency contraceptive method Plan B (also known as the “morning-after pill”) without a prescription…more

EC Still Inaccessible for Military Women

By Nancy Northup
RHRealityCheck.org
Created Apr 1 2009 - 7:00am

Emergency contraception is still difficult to access for many groups of women, including the more than 200,000 women serving in the Armed Services. It's excluded from the list of what military facilities, including the primary stores where families shop, are required to stock. |MORE

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"Our Daughter’s Emergency — Plan B for Our Family”

Future Choices TV episode
aired March 2009

Dr. Ann Engelland comes to Future Choices TV in March 2009 for "Our Daughter’s Emergency — Plan B for Our Family” to help parents guide their teens through the daunting challenges of developing healthy social relationships during their high school and early college years.
A specialist in pediatrics and adolescent medicine practicing in Mamaroneck and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Dr. Engelland's observations are refreshingly reality-based. |MORE

Federal Court Rules FDA Must Reconsider Plan B Decision

NEW YORK
March 23, 2009
PRNewswire-USNewswire

Today [March 23, 2009], the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York rejected the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to limit over-the-counter access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B to women over 18, ruling that it was based on politics and ideology, rather than science. The court ordered the agency to reconsider its decision. It also ordered the FDA to act within 30 days to extend over-the-counter access, which is currently limited to 18 year olds and over, to 17 year olds.

The Court found that the FDA "acted in bad faith and in response to political pressure," "departed in significant ways from the agency's normal procedures," and engaged in "repeated and unreasonable delays." In addition, the court found that the FDA's justification for denying over-the-counter access to 17 year olds "lacks all credibility," and was based on "fanciful and wholly unsubstantiated 'enforcement' concerns."

Before its action on Plan B, the FDA had never restricted a non-prescription drug based on a person's age, nor had the Bush Administration ever been consulted by the FDA about an over-the-counter drug application. Depositions of senior FDA officials by the Center in 2006 indicated that the Bush Administration sought to unduly influence the agency during the Plan B application review process. Testimony also indicated that officials involved in the decision-making process were concerned about losing their jobs if they did not follow the Administration's political directives.

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Planned Parenthood leads campaign to enhance our Access to Emergency Contraception

Emergency contraception (EC), also known as "the morning-after pill" or as the name brand Plan B, is a safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy after unprotected intercourse. Every woman deserves every opportunity to prevent unintended pregnancy.

Despite its potential to prevent unintended pregnancy, and thereby reduce the need for abortion, anti-choice groups continue to oppose emergency contraception, mischaracterizing how it works and how safe it is.

In August 2006, after a three-year campaign by Planned Parenthood, among other groups — and the recommendation of its own blue-ribbon panels of experts — the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally put women's health before politics and approved the sale of EC without a prescription for women 18 and older.

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Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, sponsor of a bill that would reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in New York by providing access to emergency contraception to females through a registered nurse or pharmacist, without requiring a doctor's prescription, told the Editorial Board:

"The fact that (the FDA is) drawing a line [in their deliberations about Plan B] between women 18 and older and younger women makes it clear that they continue to base their deliberations on political motivations. There is simply no health-related reason to make this distinction.''

For the full 8/6/06 editorial in The Journal News read on.

Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health® (PRCH) strongly supports the “Unintended Pregnancy Prevention Act.” See their Legislative Backgrounder.

• Emergency Contraception Issue Module: http://cme.kff.org/Key=9745.DH7.G.C.ClBGV
  This issue module synthesizes the latest data and research on women’s access to emergency contraceptive pills. Information includes key research studies on use and awareness, presentations, and policy analysis on efficacy, over-the-counter status, issues for youth, as well as research on international, national, and state-level policies.
• Fact Sheet on Emergency Contraception: http://cme.kff.org/Key=9745.DH7.H.C.5fqfH
  The Kaiser Family Foundation has also prepared this two-page fact sheet, highlighting key trends and policies on women’s access to emergency contraception.