ICYMI: Government Approves Plan B for Children - Over The Counter - Girls Any Age

by Bethany Monk, CitizenLink: The Justice Department (DOJ) decided Monday to comply with a judge’s ruling that allows anyone to buy a drug that may cause early abortions. The ruling says no one needs a prescription and minors do not require parental notification or consent to purchase the drug.

The drug, marketed as Plan B and also referred to as the “morning after pill,” contains high levels of hormones, which have not been tested on pre-teens and teenage girls. The Obama administration previously argued that age limits were “common sense” for those wanting to buy Plan B without prescriptions. Plan B activist groups claim, however, that unrestricted access to the drug is a form of “reproductive justice.”

“The DOJ’s decision comes at the same time a bill is pending in the U.S. Senate to prohibit the sale of some cough syrups to minors due to fear of abuse,” said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of issue analysis for CitizenLink. “So, teenage girls can be trusted with a powerful hormone drug available over the counter without medical supervision but not with cough syrup. This is yet another example of the politics of abortion above common sense.”

A district judge in April ordered the Obama Administration to drop its age requirement for buying Plan B. The Obama administration announced its appeal of the order in May, then reversed course.

“President Obama has yet again sided with Planned Parenthood, his favorite political ally and the single largest distributor of Plan B drugs — drugs that can destroy a life,” said Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Litigation Counsel Catherine Glenn Foster. “Whatever guides this administration in its decisions, it is apparently not the health and well-being of our daughters and granddaughters. The administration’s decision is nothing short of shameful.”

In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved over-the-counter access to Plan B for women 18 and older, according to court documents. Those under 18 were required to have a prescription. The FDA was later ordered to make it available without a prescription to 17-year-olds.

“It is irresponsible to advocate over-the-counter use of these high-potency drugs, which would make them available to anyone — including those predators who exploit young girls,” said Janice Shaw Crouse, director and senior fellow of Concerned Women for America’s Beverly LaHaye Institute. “Mark my words, it will not be long before we see girls and women forced to purchase Plan B for their abuser to keep them and others enslaved. This is a pimp, predator and pedophile’s dream — unlimited access to Plan B.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read the district court opinion in Tummino v. Hamburg.

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