Who Hijacked Our Country

Friday, April 05, 2013

Plan B available Over-The-Counter, “right out there with the bubble gum”

Bad news for snake-handlers and Biblehumpers; good news for everybody else.  U.S. District Judge Edward Korman has ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make the morning after birth control pill, known as Plan B, available without a prescription to all women of reproductive age.

Currently, girls under 17 need a prescription, and all women can be required by the pharmacist to show identification.  And there have been numerous cases of pharmacists — who are clearly in the wrong profession — refusing to provide the morning after pill because it violates their “moral” beliefs.

And now, pharmacists are out of the equation.

The ruling was hailed by medical organizations — including the American Academy of Pediatrics — and by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Expressing an opposing view, Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life, said:

“When these are right out there with the bubble gum, they're going to be part of the date rape cocktail.”

[sigh]

Two years ago the FDA tried to make Plan B available to everyone without a prescription, but they were overruled by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Susan Wood, a former FDA assistant commissioner, said:

“This has been a 10-year saga during which the FDA was not allowed to do its role properly, not allowed to make science-based decisions.  This decision gives the FDA the chance to reclaim its ability to make decisions based on science, medicine and evidence, not politics.”

And Judge Korman reprimanded Kathleen Sebelius for stymieing the FDA because of her political beliefs:

“Nevertheless, even with eyes shut to the motivation for the secretary's decision, the reasons she provided are so unpersuasive as to call into question her good faith.”

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5 Comments:

Blogger Life As I Know It Now said...

It is great when there is some good news for a change! This is a step in the right direction.

April 5, 2013 at 1:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hate to be seen as on the same side of the right wing, but my issue is not the moral one but the safety of Drugs, which I've seen the FDA sit on it's hands for decades while consumers were getting sick off bad drugs. As a retired Pharmaceutical Employee, I neither trust Drug Companies nor the FDA to guarantee us safe drugs.

And I am old enough to remember when Pharmacist principles wouldn't let some distribute Condoms and in some small towns near where I grew up, they would call your parents.

Erik

April 5, 2013 at 5:26 PM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

Life: Yup, that occasional bit of good news is certainly a breath of fresh air.

Erik: Drug safety and side effects are certainly a valid issue. But I suspect the reason the Religious Right and some pharmacists are against Plan B has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with sanctimonious preaching.

April 6, 2013 at 1:15 PM  
Anonymous Jess said...

Woo hoo, slut pills for everyone. Oh wait, I was channeling a bagger there for a second.

This will only help those that stupidly have sex without contraception. I am pleased about this after all the bad this week relating to women's choice. One thing does strike me though, why are we not pushing condom use for the men folk, it's always about us women taking on all the responsibility for sexy times. Last time I checked unless you were all about masturbation, and who isn't, there are two people involved in the sexy times. My two cents worth.

April 6, 2013 at 3:42 PM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

Jess: Slut pills, LOL.

April 7, 2013 at 11:09 AM  

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