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