[lbo-talk] FDA decision traps Morning After Pill behind the counter

JBrown72073 at cs.com JBrown72073 at cs.com
Thu Aug 24 13:11:39 PDT 2006


Morning-After Pill Decision- Picket Today!

FDA APPROVES PHARMACY ACCESS FOR WOMEN 18+

TAKE ACTION to oppose the age limit and the behind-the-counter status!!

If you are in New York City, join the Women's Liberation Birth Control

Project for a picket :

*Picket at the NYC office of the FDA at 5:30 p.m.: TODAY! (Thursday, Aug. 24)*

Meet at Federal Plaza, Jacob K. Javits Federal Building. Sidewalk in front

of main entrance on Broadway between Duane and Thomas Streets.

We will picket to oppose the age restriction for the Morning-After Pill and

push forward for full, over-the-counter access for women of all ages without

restrictions. Also the fact that ALL women are going to have to show ID to a

pharmacist in order to get Plan B -- this is unnecessary and puts our

reproductive lives in the hands of pharmacists that may refuse to dispense

the pill.

Below is the Birth Control Project Press Release. Please feel free to

forward. The FDA's decision is a partial victory after years of fighting -

now let's go all the way!

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—

August 24, 2006*

*Feminists Respond to Morning-After Pill Decision with Local Picket and

Legal Action*

The Food and Drug Administration has announced its plans to ease the

restrictions on the Morning-After Pill (brand name Plan B) for women 18 and

older. Feminists with the Morning-After Pill Conspiracy are outraged by the

restrictions placed on the drug, and vow to seek full over-the-counter

access with both legal pressure and a picket at HHS today at 5:30.

"We've pushed the FDA this far, but this decision is only a partial victory,

it's imperative that we keep up the pressure to get what women really need,

unrestricted access," said Annie Tummino, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit,

Tummino vs Von Eschenbach, suing the FDA for discriminating against women by

holding Plan B to a different standard than it does other drugs.

This is the first time in history that the Food and Drug Administration has

proposed the creation of a separate status for a non-prescription drug.

"This move traps Plan B behind-the-counter. We will have to show

a pharmacist an ID in order to get birth control that is perfectly safe for

women of all ages." said Erin Mahoney, another plaintiff in the suit and

founding chair of the Women's Liberation Birth Control Project, a NYC-based

feminist organization, "The restriction is unnecessary, and frankly, its

sexist."

While the proposed age has quietly climbed from 16 to 18 in the past two

years, the FDA's excuse for the restriction remains the same: access to

birth control might increase the likelihood that teenagers will have

unprotected sex. If the FDA is really so concerned about safe sex, it should

push men to wear condoms, not punish women by withholding birth control.

This is not a decision for over-the-counter, this decision requires that women be carded for this safe, effective

form of birth control. The age restriction also means that women have to find

pharmacies that stock MAP and pharmacists willing to fill their

prescriptions within the first 24 hours after sex, when it is most effective

in preventing pregnancy. The FDA's proposed age restriction is just another

in a long list of tactics the agency has used over the past three years to

block women's access to the Morning-After Pill and to toe the anti-birth

control line of the Bush Administration and other right-wing conservatives.

New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney says, "I am pleased that FDA has

finally made a decision that will significantly benefit women's health. But

I'm still concerned that politics is driving this issue. The product has not

changed in 3 years, but the political climate has. The president can no

longer afford to ignore the majority of Americans who want access to safe

birth control.

"I pledge to further my efforts to help women of all ages receive the safest

and most effective healthcare available and work to reduce the arbitrary age

restriction on the OTC use of Plan B that is not supported by the science.

I am deeply concerned that this barrier, coupled with the ongoing problem of

pharmacists imposing their personal beliefs on consumers and refusing to

fill legal prescriptions, will threaten women's access to birth control."

*****

The Morning-After Pill Conspiracy is a grassroots coalition of feminist

groups working for over-the-counter access to the Morning-After Pill for all

women, regardless of age. Since February of 2003, members of the

coalition have broken the law by passing out the Morning-After Pill in

defiance of the prescription requirement. More than 4,000 women across the

country have signed a pledge of civil disobedience to give their friends the

Morning-After Pill in defiance of the prescription requirement (www.mapconspiracy.org).

* For More Information*

- Annie Tummino, Lead Plaintiff, *Tummino v. Von Eschenbach* and

Chair, Women's Liberation Birth Control Project, 917-842-5306

- Erin Mahoney, Plaintiff,*Tummino v. Von Eschenbach, Coordinator,

Morning-After Pill Conspiracy *646-853-7100

- Cecilia Traini, Treasurer, Birth Control Project, 917-859-9379

*Details on the Picket*

*What: *Picket at the Department of Health**

*Why: *To protest their limited approval of the Morning-After Pill only

to women 18 and older**

*Where: *Federal Plaza, Jacob K. Javits Federal Building. Sidewalk in front

of main entrance on Broadway between Duane and Thomas Streets.

*When:* 5:30 p.m. today



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