Community Corner
Should 'Morning-After' Pills Be Sold Over the Counter to Young Girls?
A federal judge has ordered the FDA to make the pregnancy preventative available to women of all ages without a prescription. Tell us what you think of the decision.
A recent ruling by a federal judge in Brooklyn has renewed controversy on reproductive rights.
U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman overturned a 2011 decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that the morning-after pill only be available to girls under 17 years old via prescription.
Sebelius’ ruling went against a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendation that the pill be available to all women and girls over the counter.
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The U.S. Justice Department is likely to file an appeal of Korman's ruling.
Reaction to the ruling has been varied. "Today science has finally prevailed over politics," Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.
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On the other side of the fence, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights disagreed strongly with the ruling, saying the court is stripping parental rights.
"A 12-year-old girl in a New York City school cannot be given an aspirin by her teacher, even if she has a fever. The same girl cannot buy a large soda during lunchtime because Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decreed that it is not good for her. But she can be given a pill, unbeknownst to her parents, that could arguably abort her baby," League spokesman Bill Donohue said in a statement.
"Morning-after" pills, such as Plan B, work to prevent pregnancy through the use of a man-made hormone, which prevents the ovary releasing an egg, or prevents fertilization of an egg by sperm.
If the egg has been fertilized, the hormone might be able to prevent the egg from embedding itself in the uterus. However, if the egg makes its way inside the uterus, it is too late for the pill to do anything.
The pill only works within 72 hours of a sexual encounter, but is most effective if taken within 24 hours of the encounter.
It is expected that the morning-after pill will be available without a prescription within 30 days of the April 5 ruling.
Should the morning-after pill be available over the counter to women of all ages?
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