Chicago Sun Times Editorial - To Plan B or not Plan B: FDA gets it right

Chicago Sun Times Editorial - To Plan B or not Plan B: FDA gets it right
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
August 29, 2006


Congratulations to the Food and Drug Administration for finally recognizing women are adults who can make their own reproductive choices! It only took three years for the FDA to approve Plan B, an emergency contraception, as an over-the-counter drug even though there was no scientific reason for the delay.

The drug, proved safe time and time again, even by the FDA's own scientific panel, became a political hot potato denounced by "right to life" groups as an abortion pill. In fact, the pharmacology of Plan B shows it is anything but an abortifacient, and the fact that FDA honchos delayed their decision because of pressure from these groups was mind-numbing.

The drug approval process should not be mired in politics; it should be a safety and health issue.

Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, works if used within 72 hours of unprotected sex; it does not affect existing pregnancies and has no known risks. The pill will be available OTC to women 18 and older; the FDA was concerned that younger women get medical advice and a prescription, and this is a compromise most women's health advocates can live with. Even President Bush sided with the decision about making the pill easily available to those 18 and older, even though he was denounced by abortion opponents.

Thank goodness sanity has finally prevailed.