Availability of Plan B, the "morning after pill", is one of many issues we face regarding a woman's right to sovereignty over her own body.
We must stand up against all attempts to return us to the times when our bodies and our lives were helplessly at the mercy of a man's sexual (and/or violent) whims.
From Women's eNews:
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"He came. He delayed. And then he was gone."
In the words of Belle Taylor-McGhee, director of the Oakland-based Pharmacy Access Partnership, that sums up the tenure of former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford, who on Aug. 26 announced the FDA would indefinitely delay over-the-counter approval of emergency contraception and then on Sept. 23 suddenly resigned.
Crawford's departure -- and the appointment of acting FDA chief Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach to replace him -- have stirred mixed hopes about the future of Plan B, the drug known as "emergency contraception" or the "morning-after pill" because it is 89 percent effective at preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse.
"Emergency contraception will be the first test of whether von Eschenbach is committed to science driving decision-making at the agency," says Susan Wood, the former director of the FDA's Office of Women's Health, who resigned in August to protest Plan B's delay.
A concentrated, two-pill dose of the hormone progestin, Plan B is made by Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., and has been available in the United States by prescription since July 1999. Costing $30 to $40, it could prevent an estimated 1.7 million unintended pregnancies annually if it were more widely available.
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