Age limit on morning-after pill lifted
Source: Agencies |
April 7, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
UNITED States President Barack Obama supports requiring girls younger than 17 to see a doctor before buying the morning-after pill to help prevent unwanted pregnancies. But fighting that battle in court, after a new decision makes the pill available without a prescription, comes with its own set of risks.
A federal judge on Friday ordered the US Food and Drug Administration to lift age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception - ending the requirement that buyers show proof they're 17 or older if they want to buy it without a prescription.
The ruling accused the Obama administration of letting the president's pending re-election in 2012 cloud its judgment when it set the age limits in 2011.
"The motivation for the secretary's action was obviously political," US District Judge Edward Korman wrote in reference to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The FDA had been poised to allow over-the-counter sales with no age limits when Sebelius took the unprecedented step of overruling the agency.
If the Obama administration appeals the ruling, it could re-ignite a simmering cultural battle over women's reproductive health.
A federal judge on Friday ordered the US Food and Drug Administration to lift age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception - ending the requirement that buyers show proof they're 17 or older if they want to buy it without a prescription.
The ruling accused the Obama administration of letting the president's pending re-election in 2012 cloud its judgment when it set the age limits in 2011.
"The motivation for the secretary's action was obviously political," US District Judge Edward Korman wrote in reference to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The FDA had been poised to allow over-the-counter sales with no age limits when Sebelius took the unprecedented step of overruling the agency.
If the Obama administration appeals the ruling, it could re-ignite a simmering cultural battle over women's reproductive health.
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