Pro-Abortion Lawsuit Wants FDA to Sell Morning After Pill OTC to Teens
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 12, 2006
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-abortion law firm has filed a lawsuit
against the Food and Drug Administration over its recent decision to allow
over the counter sales of the morning after pill. The Center for
Reproductive Rights filed a legal complaint in an attempt to force the
agency to extend the sales to teenagers under the age of 18.
When the FDA entered into an agreement with Barr Laboratories, the maker of
the Plan B drug, it prohibited anyone under 18 from purchasing the morning
after pill without a prescription.
That hasn't gone over well with abortion advocates and CRR, representing
several pro-abortion women, filed a complaint against the federal agency in
a federal court in Brooklyn this week.
The complaint replaces a similar one the group had filed against the FDA
previously over its previous postponements on whether or not it would allow
over the counter sales.
The previous complaint featured a debate between the pro-abortion law firm
and the White House over whether it had to submit documents of discussions
between the Bush administration and the FDA about the legal status of the
Plan B drug.
According to an Associated Press report, attorneys for the FDA appeared in
the Brooklyn federal court Wednesday and asked a magistrate to stop CRR from
getting access to any more government documents until a ruling is handed
down about whether the new legal complaint can proceed.
Judge Viktor V. Pohorelsky did not rule on the request but hinted that he
would likely side with CRR to allow its lawyers to continue getting
government documents. He appeared to believe it was the only way to confirm
the Bush administration's potential influence on the OTC approval process.
"It's not like they're fishing," Pohorelsky said of the pro-abortion
attorneys.
But, Assistant U.S. Attorney F. Franklin Amanat said the CRR attorneys had
not produced enough evidence to meet the typically high standards that must
be met for the release of confidential presidential records.
"They have nothing but speculation, hearsay, innuendo and opinions," he
said, according to the AP report.
The FDA has said that it made its decision on the over the counter sales on
scientific grounds and that its decision should be upheld even if the Bush
administration lobbied it.
A Utah doctor who was a member of a Food and Drug Administration's advisory
panel says the morning after pill will not reduce the number of abortions
and pregnancies that its supports claim it will do. He also indicated that
the Plan B drug can work as an abortion agent in certain circumstances.
Dr. Joseph Stanford, associate professor of family and preventative medicine
at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said the morning after pill
won't be as effective as its maker claims.
He told the Deseret News that studies he and fellow researchers have done
show a lower effectiveness rate than the 89 percent Barr Laboratories
claims.
"We did more a precise meta-analysis that shows it's effective only 72
percent of the time, and even that number is optimistic," he indicated.
He also told the newspaper that studies from Europe, China and the United
States show that the morning after pill does not reduce abortions. In fact,
new abortion figures in England and Scotland show that abortions have
reached their highest point ever despite over the counter sales of Plan B.
"In all cases, they found there was no effect on abortion rates and
unintended pregnancy rates," he says.
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