NOW action center -- Contact FDA re: OTC emergency contraception

[Sweet Freedom]

http://www.now.org/lists/now-action-list/msg00168.html

Urgent: Contact the FDA by Thursday to Say That Women Need Over-the-Counter Emergency Contraception with NO Restrictions

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year denied a request by Barr Pharmaceuticals to sell the morning-after pill, called Plan B®, over the counter. The FDA will decide this week, reportedly on Thursday, January 20th, whether drugstores can sell the emergency contraception known as Plan B without a prescription.

Action Needed:

Please use this link to send a message to the FDA expressing support for approval of over-the-counter sale of this urgently needed emergency contraceptive and opposing any age restrictions on availability.


The FDA delayed last year a final decision on whether Plan B ®, a brand of emergency contraception, will be approved for over-the-counter (non-prescription) sales. This is despite the fact that two FDA advisory panels recommended to approve the over-the-counter sale of this safe and effective drug.

The agency promised to reconsider if Barr figured out how to sell the product over the counter only to those 16 and older. The National Organization for Women (NOW) opposes that restriction.

Background:

"Plan B is safe, effective, easy to use, and could prevent thousands of unwanted pregnancies," NOW President Kim Gandy said at an FDA hearing on emergency contraception. "The women who will benefit most from the availability of emergency contraception are rape victims, young women, low-income women, women without health insurance and rural, isolated women—and any woman who is unable to quickly reach a sympathetic physician to obtain a prescription. We urge the FDA to remember these often overlooked women as it makes its decision."

It is apparent that extremist opponents of birth control are unduly influencing decision-makers to restrict access to this safe and effective contraceptive. News reports indicate that under pressure from such groups as the right-wing Concerned Women for America and others, the FDA has been reviewing a "modified approval" that would prohibit teen-agers from buying emergency contraception without a prescription. In addition, EC would have to be kept behind the counter so that women would have to ask the pharmacist to give it to them. This is an insulting and demeaning approach that would allow some pharmacists to question or humiliate women who need to buy emergency contraception.

The National Organization for Women believes that sexually-active teens must have the same EC access that older women would have. It is also critical to note that sexual assault survivors need quick access to the morning-after pill and many rape survivors are adolescents.

According to the Reproductive Health Technologies Project (RHTP), about three million unintended pregnancies occur each year in the U.S, as many as half to women who are already using regular methods of contraception. For many of these women, emergency contraception is a reliable method of back-up birth control. To be most effective, emergency contraception should be taken within 24 hours (and up to 72 hours) of unprotected intercourse or contraceptive failure.

Nearly 40 countries make emergency contraception available without prescription.

You may also reach them by phone: 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)

[sinkingfeeling]

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[LiberalEsto]

2. Done. Kicked.

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[Acryliccalico]

3. Done , Thanks