Easy access to Plan B is bad plan for Illinois women and girls

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 24, 2006 -- In an unprecedented move, the Food and Drug Administration announced today it will authorize over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill, marketed as "Plan B," to women aged 18 and older. Girls under 18 will still have to get the MAP by prescription.

The MAP is a 2-pill regimen of mega-doses of female hormones to be taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex.

"To cater to feminist organizations that will financially gain from its decision as well as politicians like Hillary Clinton who will receive trickle-down benefits, the FDA had to gerrymander an entirely new approval process that the Congress did not authorize," stated Right to Life of Will County president Jill Stanek. "That's the first problem."

Stanek, a registered nurse, testified before an FDA committee in Washington, D. C., in 2003 against making the MAP available over-the- counter.

In an August 23 memo, FDA Acting Commissioner Andrew Von Eschenbach indicated the MAP was safe for women over 18 without a prescription.

"That's the next problem," stated Stanek. "Since no research has been conducted on the long-term impact of taking the MAP, I don't know how he could make that claim."

Stanek continued, "Planned Parenthood acknowledged that taking the MAP is equivalent to taking 40 progesterone birth control pills. Yet one can only get birth control pills with a prescription. How does Von Eschenbach rationalize making the higher dose available over-the- counter when the lower dose is not?"

The FDA also did not address the potential for adults legally obtaining MAPs to illegally resell or give them to minors or child sex predators. "What will be the penalties, if any?" asked Stanek. "Who will be penalized?"

Finally, the FDA has not stopped MAP advocates from persistently misrepresenting the fact that the MAP may cause abortions.

"Even in her jubilant press release today, Nancy Keenan of NARAL said the MAP 'can prevent an unintended pregnancy,'" noted Stanek. "In fact, it may stop an embryo from implanting in the wall of the uterus, i.e., cause an abortion."

Concluded Stanek, "The health and safety of American girls and women suffered a serious setback today."

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Contact: Jill Stanek, President
Right to Life of Will Co.
815-464-0984 or 815-274-2744