healthmedicinet

WASHINGTON — The government on Tuesday lowered to 15 the age at which girls can buy the morning-after pill without a prescription and said the emergency contraception no longer has to be kept behind pharmacy counters.

The decision by the Food and Drug Administration is an attempt to find middle ground just days before a court-imposed deadline to lift all age restrictions on the drug.

Today, Plan B One-Step is sold behind pharmacy counters, and buyers must prove they’re 17 or older to buy it without a prescription. Tuesday’s decision lowers the age limit to 15 – and will allow the pill to sit on drugstore shelves next to condoms and spermicides or other women’s health products. But customers must prove their age at the cash register.

Teva Women’s Health, which makes Plan B, said it would begin over-the-counter sales in a few months.

The question is whether Tuesday’s action settles a larger court fight. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman of New York blasted the Obama administration for imposing the age-17 limit, saying it had let election-year politics trump science and was making it hard for women of any age to obtain the emergency contraception in time. He ordered an end to all age restrictions by Monday, for Plan B and its generic versions.

The FDA said Tuesday’s decision was independent of the court case and wasn’t intended to address it. Technically, the FDA approved Teva’s application to sell Plan B in this manner.

The Justice Department remained mum on whether it planned to appeal Korman’s decision, and the White House had no immediate comment.

The women’s group that sued over the age limits said Tuesday’s action is not enough, and it will continue the court fight if necessary.

Lowering the age limit “may reduce delays for some young women but it does nothing to address the significant barriers that far too many women of all ages will still find if they arrive at the drugstore without identification,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The FDA said the Plan B One-Step will be packaged with a product code that prompts the cashier to verify a customer’s age. Anyone who can’t provide such proof as a driver’s license, birth certificate or passport wouldn’t be allowed to complete the purchase. In most states, driver’s licenses, the most common form of identification, are issued at age 16.

“These are daunting and sometimes insurmountable hoops women are forced to jump through in time-sensitive circumstances, and we will continue our battle in court to remove these arbitrary restrictions on emergency contraception for all women,” Northup said.

Other contraceptive contraception advocates called the move promising.

“This decision is a step in the right direction for increased access to a product that is a safe and effective method of preventing unintended pregnancies,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “It’s also a decision that moves us closer to these critical availability decisions being based on science, not politics.”

Social conservatives had opposed any efforts to loosen restrictions on sale of the morning-after pill, arguing that it was important for parents and medical professionals to be involved in such decisions involving young girls.

The group Concerned Women for America charged that health officials were putting politics and so-called progress ahead of the health of children as well as women.

“It makes no sense that kids need parental permission to take aspirin at school, but they’re free to buy and administer Plan B,” Penny Nance, CEO and president of CWA, said in a statement.

Half the nation’s pregnancies every year are unintended, and doctors’ groups say more access to morning-after pills could cut those numbers. The pills contain higher doses of regular contraceptives, and if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can cut the chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. But it works best if taken in the first 24 hours.

The FDA had been poised to lift all age limits and let Plan B sell over-the-counter in late 2011, when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in an unprecedented move, overruled her own scientists. Sebelius said some girls as young as 11 are physically capable of bearing children but shouldn’t be able to buy the pregnancy-preventing pill on their own.

President Barack Obama supported Sebelius’ move and a spokesman said earlier this month that the president’s position hadn’t changed.

The Justice Department could appeal Korman’s ruling and seek a stay. If granted, the appeals process would move through the courts, while Plan B is sold over the counter whenever Teva has the product repackaged to meet FDA’s requirements.

Absent a stay, “we will want to go back to court as quickly as possible and ask the judge to hold them in contempt,” said Janet Crepps, a senior counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The FDA said Tuesday that Teva had provided data proving that girls as young as 15 could understand how Plan B works and use it properly, without the involvement of a health care provider. Teva plans to conduct a consumer-education program, and indicated it is willing to audit whether stores are following the age requirement, the agency said.

FDA said its ruling applies only to Plan B One-Step, and not to generic versions of the pill which would remain behind pharmacy counters with the age-17 restriction.

If a woman already is pregnant, the morning-after pill has no effect. It prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg. According to the medical definition, pregnancy doesn’t begin until a fertilized egg implants itself into the wall of the uterus. Still, some critics say Plan B is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it may also be able to prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, a contention that many scientists – and Korman, in his ruling – said has been discredited.

Related on HuffPost:

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• Defunding Planned Parenthood

  Planned Parenthood has become such a reliable punching bag for social conservatives that it would have been more surprising if former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) emdidn’t/em include defunding the women’s health services provider as a staple of his recent three-point plan to revitalize the GOP.

  “[W]e are going to push Republican congressional leaders to defund the monstrosity that is Planned Parenthood,” Santorum said in an April fundraising plea, a href=”http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/07/rick-santorums-plan-to-revitalize-the-gop-defund-planned-parenthood/” target=”_blank”according to Raw Story/a. “Too many in the GOP want to ignore the millions of innocent lives that have been extinguished by this vile organization. Defunding Planned Parenthood is a winning issue. The polls prove it.”

  If threatening Planned Parenthood — and the pap smears, STI screenings, breast exams and contraceptives that comprise 97 percent of its services — seems somewhat passé, that’s because it kind of is. The biggest state push to strip the organization of funds came from Republicans in 2011 and 2012, and while some laws were passed, most have been found unconstitutional by court rulings.

  The GOP’s demonization of Planned Parenthood a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/29/defunding-planned-parenthood-polls_n_913685.html” target=”_blank”has been/a a href=”http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/06/439059/texas-poll-planned-parenthood-defunding/” target=”_blank”far more unpopular/a than Santorum suggests, but that didn’t stop congressional Republicans from eagerly continuing their crusade to eliminate its federal funding earlier this year with a a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/planned-parenthood-funding-_n_2434592.html?1357683076? target=”_blank”pair of new bills/a that haven’t moved forward.
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• Restricting Abortion Access

  The fight against women’s reproductive rights continued this year, as it seemingly does every year, with a new slate of highly restrictive anti-abortion bills.

  A number of states have so far been successful at pioneering harsh new limits on abortion rights that would leave women who need such services in those states — as well as their partners — with few or no options.

  North Dakota led the charge, ushering through the toughest restrictions in the nation with a bill prohibiting abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. State Republicans a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/jack-dalrymple-north-dakota_n_2956934.html” target=”_blank”have admitted/a that it will likely set the stage for a bitter court challenge. Arkansas meanwhile a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/us/arkansas-adopts-restrictive-abortion-law.html?pagewanted=all_r=1? target=”_blank”passed a ban/a on abortions after 12 weeks, and a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/06/kansas-abortion_n_3029343.html?utm_hp_ref=politics” target=”_blank”Kansas is set to enact a law that has raised concern/a among abortion rights activists who say the language could lead to an outright abortion ban.BR
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• Implementing New Restrictions For Abortion Clinics, Doctors

  When banning abortions themselves isn’t enough, states have also made a point of targeting the doctors and clinics that provide them. Opponents claim the push for harsher restrictions could eliminate abortion access entirely in some states, forcing women in need to face difficult and dangerous choices.

  Measures in a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/mississippi-abortion-clinic_n_2558320.html” target=”_blank”Mississippi/a and a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/02/north-dakotas-only-abortion-clinic-isnt-going-anywhere/” target=”_blank”North Dakota/a have put the single abortion clinics in each of the states at risk of closing. The new regulations claim to ensure safer standards, requiring anyone performing abortions to be an OB-GYN with hospital admitting privileges. But critics argue that the abundance of caution is unnecessary, as procedures a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/us/alabama-legislature-approves-abortion-clinic-limits.html?_r=0? target=”_blank”very rarely lead to medical emergencies/a.

  With the stigmatization of abortion in many of these states often leaving only a few medical professionals who provide abortion services in the first place, opponents also argue that the new rules create an onerous if not impossible task that is intended to force clinics to close.

  New a href=”http://hamptonroads.com/2013/04/decisive-hearing-abortion-clinic-rules-set-today” target=”_blank”rules in Virginia/a are causing similar consternation in the state, and beginning in July, the few clinics serving Alabama will face the same concerns thanks to a a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/alabama-abortion-bill_n_3046005.html” target=”_blank”newly passed law/a.BR
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• Punishing Rape Victims Who Seek Abortions

  New Mexico state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R) nearly one-upped a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/19/todd-akin-abortion-legitimate-rape_n_1807381.html” target=”_blank”Todd Akin/a earlier this year, when she a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/new-mexico-abortion-bill_n_2541894.html” target=”_blank”proposed legislation/a seeking to make any rape victim who terminated a pregnancy guilty of “tampering with evidence,” a third-degree felony. She later a href=”http://www.salon.com/2013/01/25/cathrynn_brown_wants_to_abort_mission/” target=”_blank”attempted to perform damage control/a, adjusting the language of the bill. It didn’t pass.

• Cutting Sex Education Funding

  Some people apparently still believe the best sex education is the kind that includes neither sex nor education.

  In North Dakota, Arkansas and Texas, Republicans extended their vendetta against Planned Parenthood this year, bringing forth proposals to block the organization’s effort to offer comprehensive sex education programs to at-risk teenagers. Lawmakers lofted a variety of arguments against the plan, which would have provided counseling and information about contraception, sexually transmitted infections and — wait for it — even abstinence.

  In Texas, a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/texas-sex-ed-planned-parenthood_n_2819318.html” target=”_blank”one supporter claimed/a that it was impossible to entrust Planned Parenthood with sex education duties, because doing so would constitute a “conflict of interest” considering the group’s role as an abortion provider. It was taken as a suggestion that she believed Planned Parenthood might miseducate teens in order to get them pregnant so that the the group could then make money off providing them with abortions. The bill hasn’t passed yet.

  Lawmakers in North Dakota offered similar arguments in favor of their version of a similar measure, while Republicans in Arkansas a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/arkansas-planned-parenthood-sex-ed_n_3047024.html” target=”_blank”pushed through a bill/a that both defunds Planned Parenthood and effectively kills a comprehensive sex education program in the state’s public high schools. The Arkansas bill also ends a state-funded HIV and STI prevention program, also administered by Planned Parenthood.

  Critics have called this a terrible idea, partially because a href=”http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/04/10/1844321/arkansas-planned-parenthood-sex-ed/” target=”_blank”Arkansas already has some of the highest/a teen pregnancy and HIV rates in the nation, and partially because, duh.BR
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• Pushing Abstinence-Only Education

  While Republicans in a number of states fought comprehensive sex education, GOP lawmakers in Congress poured it on hot and heavy with an aggressive and ill-fated bill seeking to a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/abstinence-education-reallocation-act_n_2807356.html” target=”_blank”open up more than $550 million in federal grants/a to programs that teach the “skills and benefits of sexual abstinence as the optimal sexual health behavior for youth.” It also encouraged programs that provided an “understanding of how drugs, alcohol, and the irresponsible use of social media can influence sexual decisionmaking and can contribute to risky and often aggressive sexual behavior.”

  Studies have repeatedly shown that this form of education a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/13/AR2007041301003.html” target=”_blank”doesn’t work/a and, in fact, a href=”http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/05/14/482665/birth-control-misinformed/” target=”_blank”increases risky sexual behavior/a among young adults.

  As a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/themoogly/abstinence-education-reallocation-act_n_2807356_234478473.html” target=”_blank”one witty HuffPost commenter quipped/a, “If you gave every teen in America $550 million, they would still have sex.”BR
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• Curbing Affordable Contraception

  The GOP offensive to scale back access to affordable birth control also perked up again in 2013, with Republicans taking most intent aim at an Obamacare contraception mandate that they have repeatedly called an attack on religious freedom.

  The push back against the measure — which requires most insurance providers and employers to offer free contraception coverage — a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/virginia-abortion-contraception_n_2410445.html?1357324409? target=”_blank”first/a a href=”http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2013/03/tim_jones_chris_koster_birth_control.php” target=”_blank”cropped up/a on the state level, but in March, a group of House Republicans threw it into the crossfire of budget negotiations when they a href=”http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/abortion/286217-gop-lawmakers-say-spending-bill-should-target-contraception-mandate” target=”_blank”tacked a measure/a to repeal the mandate on to a continuing resolution. It was a non-starter.

• Reinstating Anti-Sodomy Laws

  In the midst of a campaign for governor, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/03/ken-cuccinelli-sodomy_n_3007731.html” target=”_blank”made an effort/a to reinstate a state anti-sodomy law that had recently been struck down by the courts.

  Cuccinelli hoped to use the law — which a href=”http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/cuccinelli-wants-rehearing-virginias-anti-sodomy-law” target=”_blank”technically banned/a consensual anal and oral sex, for emboth gay and straight people/em, despite the Supreme Court’s 2003 emLawrence v. Texas/em ruling that found such bans unconstitutional — in order to prosecute an earlier case.

  Cucinelli’s appeal a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/ken-cuccinelli-sodomy_n_3051758.html” target=”_blank”ultimately failed/a, but only after his campaign a href=”http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/ken-cuccinelli-crimes-against-nature-prison-capacity” target=”_blank”refused to confirm or deny/a if he himself had committed any of the “crimes against nature” that the law supposedly protected against.

• Voting To Keep Gay Sex Illegal

  A law determining that sex between gay people is illegal has been on the books in Montana for almost 40 years, despite the fact that it can no longer be enforced due to a state Supreme Court ruling and emLawrence v. Texas/em.

  When state lawmakers undertook an effort to repeal the obsolete measure in April, however, not all were willing to take the symbolic step in favor of gay rights. In fact, a total of 38 Republicans voted against the measure, a stand that drew a a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/amanda-curtis-montana_n_3046636.html” target=”_blank”pointed response/a from their Democratic colleague, state Rep. Amanda Curtis (D). Curtis even said she was quite tempted to punch one of her Republican colleagues, but it looks like that didn’t happen.

  Watch her explain why she didn’t in the video to the left, starting at around the 2:10 mark. And a href=”https://www.facebook.com/amanda.curtis.56614?fref=ts” target=”_blank”follow her on Facebook here/a.

  Despite their resistance, state lawmakers a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130411/us-montana-gay-sex/?utm_hp_ref=politicsir=politics” target=”_blank”ultimately passed the measure/a, meaning a bunch of “felons” in the state are about to lose some serious street cred.BRBR

• Keeping Gay Teens Scared Of Jail Time

  When the Texas state Senate a href=”http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/rare-gay-rights-bill-passes-senate-committee/nXHRt/” target=”_blank”made a rare, yet small move/a to help enhance legal protections for sexually active gay teens in April, one Republican, state Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown), voted against the measure.

  In voting no, Schwertner rejected an effort to extend the a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/texas-romeo-and-juliet-law_n_3054471.html” target=”_blank”state’s “Romeo and Juliet” law/a — which protects teens engaged in consensual sex from being prosecuted for sex crimes — to gay teens as well. Currently, gay teens who have sex with one another risk felony charges of sexual indecency with a child.

  A similar law is on the books in Nevada, where the ACLU a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/crime-against-nature-statute-nevada-aclu_n_3015565.html” target=”_blank”has announced/a it is joining a fight against the statute.BRBR

• Canceling ‘Sex Week’

  In March, a a href=”http://sexweekut.org/schedule/” target=”_blank”weeklong, student-produced series of events/a dedicated to sexual safety and awareness at the University of Tennessee emerged as a nemesis of state Republicans. After some griping, they successfully stripped state tax dollars from the “Sex Week” budget, thereby eliminating sex from the entire campus for a week. Wait, no.

  In fact, despite all the conservative bluster, “Sex Week” a href=”http://www.wate.com/story/21906010/uts-sex-week-gets-underway” target=”_blank”kicked off as planned/a in April, with help from some independent donors who presumably understood that because every week at college is sex week, a href=”http://sexweekut.org/schedule/” target=”_blank”it’s ok to discuss/a everything “From a Rocky Bottom to a a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Top” target=”_blank”Rocky Top/a.” Well played, Sex Week UT.BRBR