Dear Friends"
Late yesterday, the Obama administration announced that it plans to appeal the recent court ruling making Plan B, the emergency contraceptive available over the counter to women of all ages. The appeal is unrelated to the FDA decision earlier this week to allow girls and women 15 and older to buy Plan B over the counter (OTC).
The decision to appeal is deeply disappointing.
Throughout his time in office, President Obama has shown time and again that he understands the importance of access to birth control, and how profound the consequences can be when that access is restricted. In fact, earlier this spring, he proposed significant new investments to make birth control more accessible to women at home and abroad. He’s fought hard to ensure that health insurance plans cover – without co-pay – the full range of contraceptive methods as the preventive health care they are. His track record makes this decision especially baffling.
We know that greater access to birth control results in fewer unintended pregnancies. We know that young women have much higher rates of unintended pregnancy than older women—precisely because they often face more barriers to obtaining access to birth control. And we know that multiple scientific bodies have studied emergency contraception and have determined that it is safe and effective for use by women of all ages.
The age restriction – whether 17 as it’s been for the past two years, or 15 as the FDA has now approved – has no medical or scientific justification. None. That’s why the FDA originally recommended that it be available OTC -- only to have that overruled by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. It’s why the judge ordered the administration to make Plan B available, without prescription, to everyone regardless of age.
We don’t know exactly why the administration has made this decision. But we do know that it’s the wrong one. Please take a moment to email President Obama to express your disappointment and ask him to reconsider.
