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Obama “comfortable with” FDA decision allowing girls 15 and up to buy Plan B

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:43:00 +0000

President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he's "comfortable" with the Food and Drug Administration's decision to allow over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to anyone aged 15 or older.

“It’s not my decision to make,” he told reporters in Mexico City, but said the agency's decision was based on "solid scientific evidence" and was something he was "comfortable with.” The president also told reporters that he was "concerned" by the FDA's original recommendation to allow emergency contraception to be sold over-the-counter without age or point-of-sale restrictions.

Obama's announcement comes just days after the Department of Justice filed an appeal to overturn a federal court order to lift all age restrictions on emergency contraception. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman recently ordered the FDA to make the morning-after pill available without a prescription and without point-of-sale or age restrictions, a ruling intended to go into effect on Sunday.

Korman called the the agency's failure to make emergency contraception available without restrictions an "intolerable delay” amounting to an “administration agency filibuster” of women's access to safe contraception.

Must-see morning clip: Colbert on over-the-counter Plan B

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:13:00 +0000

The FDA, which apparently stands for the "Fornication Distribution Agenda" is "handing out hussy pills to 15-year-old girls" and Stephen Colbert is outraged:

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Obama’s half-dose of Plan B

Wed, 01 May 2013 14:42:00 +0000

It sounded like a major victory for reproductive health: Per an announcement by the FDA late Tuesday, emergency contraception will finally be available on the shelves for anyone 15 and up. Until now, women under 17 have needed a prescription for the time-sensitive and safe medication, and anyone seeking to buy Plan B had to find an open pharmacy counter. This is unquestionably a move in the right direction.

But there's a catch. Less than a month ago, the Obama administration was court-ordered to lift the age requirement entirely, by a federal judge calling them out for politicizing the process. There's no scientific or public health basis for any age limit -- the idea is that the morning-after pill be sold just as condoms are -- and requiring documentary proof of age presents a hurdle particularly for younger women and the undocumented. Also for no clear reason, Plan B will only be sold in places that have a pharmacy, as opposed to any convenience store, despite the fact that pharmacy employees will no longer be involved except with girls under 15.

Organic Eden Foods’ quiet right-wing agenda

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:45:00 +0000

The slogan for Eden Foods, which describes itself as the "oldest natural and organic food company in North America," is "creation and maintenance of purity in food." Its CEO and founder, Michael Potter, has been prominent in debates over labeling of organic food and GMOs. But the company has been quietly seeking in court another form of purity -- to Catholic doctrine about sex being solely for procreation. That goes not just for Potter, but for all 128 of his employees.

That is, Eden Foods -- an organic food company with no shortage of liberal customers -- has quietly pursued a decidedly right-wing agenda, suing the Obama administration for exemption from the mandate to cover contraception for its employees under the Affordable Care Act. In court filings, Eden Foods, represented by the conservative Thomas More Law Center, alleges that its rights have been violated under the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

NYC uses shame, petty insults in new teen pregnancy campaign

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:37:00 +0000

The New York Human Resources Administration launched a new ad campaign this week that uses "straight talk" in an effort to prevent teen pregnancy. The ads feature images of sad-looking children alongside messages like "Honestly, Mom ... Chances are he won't stay with you. What happens to me?" and "I'm twice as likely not to graduate high school because you had me as a teen."

The ads have already been harshly criticized for using these statistics to shame teen mothers rather than educating sexually active young people about where they can access condoms and other contraceptive care. But the subway and bus shelter ads aren't actually the worst part.

As reported by Miriam Pérez for RH Reality Check, at the bottom of each ad is the message: “Text ‘NOTNOW’ to 877877 for the real cost of teen pregnancy.” Text the number and you're directed to a choose your own adventure "game," which includes "scenarios about Anaya being ignored by her 'baby daddy' and shunned by her parents," but no information about how not to get pregnant. Instead, the texts use threats of social isolation, the prospect of losing your boyfriend and petty fat-shaming to drive home the message that teenagers who get pregnant are deserving of hardship and ridicule.

Emergency contraception use grows, access does not

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:17:00 +0000

A federal study released recently shows that use of emergency contraception (EC) in the United States, known colloquially as the “morning after” pill, has more than doubled in the past decade. This is good news. It demonstrates the critical and expanding role the method may now be playing in enabling women, particularly young women, to prevent unplanned pregnancies. But there are still serious hurdles women face in accessing this method of birth control. While access has expanded, there is still work to be done.

The study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Center for Health Statistics, strengthens the case for promoting EC widely and making it more readily available. Based on interviews with more than 12,000 women from 2006-2010, the research finds that EC use among all sexually experienced women between the ages of 15-44 has increased to 11 percent (up from a baseline of 4.2 percent). That number is even higher among women 20-24, one of the highest risk groups for unplanned pregnancy. Nearly a quarter of this cohort now reports having used EC.

After “Plan B” meltdown, few options left for Boehner

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:56:00 +0000

After conservatives revolted and killed John Boehner's "Plan B" proposal to avert the "fiscal cliff," things are not looking great for Boehner and his options in the negotiations.

House Republicans canceled the vote over the proposal last night after they failed to collect enough votes. Had it passed, "Plan B" would have partially averted the cliff by allowing taxes to increase only for those making over $1 million a year, though both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the White House said they would not let the proposal make it much farther.

"The President will work with Congress to get this done and we are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly that protects the middle class and our economy," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney after the proposal collapsed.

So where can Boehner go from here?

From the New York Times, one option is that Boehner works with Obama to pass something without the support of the more conservative members of his caucus:

House GOP’s “Plan B” proposal does not have much support

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:27:00 +0000

The House may be preparing to vote on John Boehner's "Plan B" to resolve the "fiscal cliff," but it appears that the proposal does not have much support.

For one thing, according to a whip count by The Hill, the proposal already has 25 likely defections by Republicans. If all Democrats vote against the proposal, Republicans can't get more that 24 defections in order for it to pass.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said earlier that Republicans have the votes to pass the proposal, which would partially avoid the fiscal cliff by allowing taxes to increase only for those making over $1 million a year.

But a number of conservative groups have lined up against it as well.

The Tea Party group Freedomworks, which had previously said it tentatively supported the plan, just now flipped and said they oppose it. “After review of the Boehner Plan B legislation, pending in the House today, FreedomWorks has found it must oppose the legislation, and will be urging House members to vote NO on the bill,” the group said in a statement. “We will post our formal opposition letter on our site, soon.”

A plan to drive conservatives wild

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:00:00 +0000

There’s no culture war like the contraception war. And whether you’re a Catholic churchgoer, a Planned Parenthood donor, a House Republican, or a Code Pink activist, there are few better ways to spoil holidays with the in-laws than to bring up birth control at the dinner table.

It was considerate of the American Academy of Pediatrics, then, to wait until after the Thanksgiving weekend to release a policy brief recommending that physicians pre-prescribe emergency contraception—known as Plan B or Next Choice—to teenage patients, in order to ensure their ability to obtain it when needed. Onerous federal laws discourage teens from using so-called “morning-after pills,” despite the enormous human and financial costs of an unplanned pregnancy, and according to the AAP, physicians might remedy the problem by writing high schoolers a script for Plan B long before the morning after.

Obama needs to make fixing Plan B his plan A

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:33:00 +0000

This past election, President Barack Obama made blatant appeals to female voters to great success. Fifty-five percent of women and a jaw-dropping 68 percent of single women voted for the president this round. Feminist and reproductive-rights groups especially campaigned hard, not just to reward him for some significant wins for women in office but because they widely believed that he could do even more in a second term, especially with 18 congressional seats swapping from anti- or mixed-choice to pro-choice.

In other words, feminist-leaning women helped usher in Obama’s victory, and now they’re wondering how he intends to show his gratitude.

Pediatricians: Make Plan B available to teens

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:24:00 +0000

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement today recommending pediatricians make prescriptions for emergency contraception available in advance to girls under the age of 17. The morning-after pill can prevent pregnancy if used within five days of intercourse, but is only available without a prescription to women 17 and older under current federal policy.

According to Bill Alpert, chief program officer of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, requiring a visit to the doctor can prevent many teens from using emergency contraception.

It's just common sense that requiring a prescription is a barrier. If an august and respected medical group like AAP is suggesting providing emergency contraception to minors is OK, that is a big deal.

Morning after pill comes to NYC schools

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:09:00 +0000

For more than a year now, five New York City schools have been quietly running a pilot program that makes the morning after pill available to teens over the age of 14. CATCH (Connecting Adolescents to Comprehensive Health) -- believed to be the first program of its kind in the nation -- enables teens to access the full range of their reproductive choices, without parental notification, in the event of unwanted pregnancy. The program recently expanded to 13 schools -- and some officials are pushing to implement it citywide.

Irin Carmon talks Plan B decision on MSNBC

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:42:00 +0000

In an unprecedented move, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius overruled the FDA's call that emergency contraception, or Plan B, be available on store shelves to women of any age. Irin Carmon joined Tamron Hall on MSNBC's News Nation to discuss the outrage. Watch here:

Obama says no to Plan B for teens

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:55:00 +0000

Why does Obama want your innocent little girl to have sex without you knowing?

The fear of an attack ad along those lines must have motivated the Obama administration's decision today to overrule the Food and Drug Administration's recommendation to allow emergency contraception to be sold on store shelves, and made available without a prescription to those under 17. There's certainly no explanation based in science.

In an extraordinary statement, FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg said she agreed with an internal study that "there is adequate and reasonable, well-supported and science-based evidence that Plan B One-Step is safe and effective and should be approved for non-prescription use for all females of child-bearing potential." But, she said, the secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, disagreed. Sebelius issued her own wishy-washy statement, claiming there wasn't enough data on the drug's effects on adolescents.