Hope for the Future of EC Access
As we gear up for the Back Up Your Birth Control Day of Action tomorrow, March 25th, we can take a little break to celebrate a great legal victory for emergency contraception (EC).
On Monday a federal court in New York ordered the F.D.A. to make EC available without a prescription to women aged 17 and older within 30 days and to consider eliminating all age restrictions on over-the-counter access.
Nancy Northup, President of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit against the F.D.A, called the decision a tremendous victory:
Emergency contraception is proven safe and effective and today, we have succeeded in expanding access to 17-year-olds and are one step closer to making it fully available to all women, including young women for whom the barriers – and the benefits – are so great.
The judge in the case offered a harsh indictment of the Bush-era F.D.A.’s foot-dragging and political misconduct back in 2006 when it first considered making EC available over-the-counter. The New York Times reports:
Citing depositions, Judge Korman wrote that agency officials had improperly communicated with White House officials about Plan B. And, he said, F.D.A. employees sought to influence decisions by appointing people with anti-abortion views to an independent panel of experts reviewing Plan B for the agency.
The agency also departed from its normal procedures, the judge wrote, by ignoring favorable conclusions about the drug by an advisory panel as well its own scientists and officials who found that the drug could be safely used by women at least as young as 17.
Such “political considerations, delays and implausible justifications” showed that the F.D.A. had acted without good faith or reasoned decision making, Judge Korman wrote.
The ruling not only vindicates the many reproductive health advocates who cried foul at the time, but provides hope for the future. President Obama’s pick to head the F.D.A., former New York City health commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, has been praised by advocates, including the National Institute’s President Kelli Conlin. Let’s hope that under her leadership the F.D.A. will no longer place ideology over science and grant all women, regardless of age, timely access to EC.
But, while allowing over-the-counter access to EC for young women is an important step in eliminating the barriers to its use, there is more to be done. Public awareness remains low and myths run rampant. Many women and men still do not know EC exists, let alone how to obtain it.
So, don’t forget to join us tomorrow for the BUYBC Day of Action to help spread the word. Write a letter to the editor. Blog about EC. Donate your Facebook or Twitter status to the cause. Find out what’s going on in your own community or college campus. And if you’re in New York City, come out and hit the subways with the NARAL Pro-Choice New York team.
By Maya Dusenbery
April 28th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
[…] month, on the eve of the Back Up Your Birth Control Day of Action, we were thrilled to learn that a federal court in New York had ordered the FDA to allow 17-year-olds to obtain emergency […]