On Friday, April 5, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman, a Brooklyn, New York federal judge who was appointed to the Eastern District of New York by Ronald Reagan, reversed a 2011 FDA ruling and ordering the Food and Drug Administration to make the "morning after pill" available over-the-counter to women and girls of all ages within the next 30 days. The previous ruling had limited Plan B's availability to women ages 17 and up without a prescription.
The FDA had originally approved the pill for all ages, but current U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius overruled that decision, creating such a controversy that at least one top FDA staff member resigned in protest. President Obama supported her ruling and the reasoning behind it, arguing for the safety of pre-teens who may be too young to understand the risks and safety concerns some doctors associate with the drug.
Judge Korman's decision in the case is reportedly 59-pages long and heavily crticizes Sebelius and President Obama, calling the age restriction "politically motivated, scientifically unjustified and contrary to agency precedent." He goes on to argue that Plan B is one of the safest over-the-counter drugs available and to say that the number of women under age 12 using the pill, a concern originally brought up by Sibelius, would be extremely small.
Advocates on both sides of the issue were quick to react, with many questioning whether or not the Justice Department will appeal the ruling. In response, Justice attorney F. Franklin Amanat said, "We are reviewing the decision and evaluating the government's options".
The case has its roots in a 2005 decision by the Bush administration to not allow Plan B without a prescription. The pills were again allowed to be sold over-the-counter in 2006, but only to women over 18. In 2009, Judge Korman ruled that access should be expanded to women of all ages, but his decision was overruled by Sibelius.
The FDA standards for drug safety and whether a consumer can be expected to use a given medication safely and responsibly is the same for all drugs, whether cough syrup, pain medication, or contraception, but Korman argued that the government's actions in regulating Plan B were motivated by politics and not an objective evaluation.
Reactions on facebook were mixed, with many area parents concerned that their children would be able to take the pill without their permission and worries that it would contribute to risky behavior. Other concerns centered an abortion, with some people assuming the pill worked by causing abortions, which its defenders say is not true, and others theorizing that easier availability of emergency contraception may lower both the abortion and teen pregnancy rates. Local mothers were mostly divided, with many saying they wouldn't want their daughters to be able to buy it off the shelves, while others said they were thankful that it would be available more quickly if needed.
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