HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius blocks the FDA’s approval of the Plan B One-Step emergency contraceptive without age restriction

On Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services decided that they will continue to dispense the emergency Plan B One-Step pill to women under the age of 17, with a doctor's prescription only. This decision overruled the FDAs request to make the pill available over the counter to women of all ages. HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius repoted in a statement that 10% of girls who are physically capable of giving birth to children are 11 years olds. Sebelius reports that these young women, "have significant cognitive and behavioral differences." HHS makes no mention of women older than 11 and younger than 17.

According to Ms. Magazine,  the pill has been available by prescription since 1998 and the FDA began considering making it available over the counter in 2003. FDA medical official Janet Woodcock stated that she feared that promotion of the pill will encourage “extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on an ‘urban legend’ status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of Plan B.”

In addition to the narrow belief that emergency contraceptives will cause promiscuity, there is also a myth that insist that the Plan B pill is the equivalent to an abortion pill. The pill actually inhibits ovulation and is not effective if implantation has begun.

If you want to fight the good fight, you can sign a letter to President Obama on the Feminist Majority website. Below is the letter you can read and and sign on the website.

Dear President Obama,

Please immediately reverse Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ unprecedented decision not to approve Plan B One-Step for all women and girls of childbearing ages. Stand behind the FDA’s recommendation and its medical and scientific experts who have deemed Plan B to be safe and effective in preventing unintended pregnancy if used in a timely manner. Remove the unnecessary behind-the-counter status for this safe and effective drug that currently requires an ID proving age or a prescription. These barriers for access to a safe medication with a time limit for effectiveness are unreasonable. Please don’t let science and medicine be trumped by politics.

For women and girls’ lives,

To sign the letter, click here.