The Family Research Council reports on a very disappointing story.
Excerpt:
If there’s one thing the Obama administration has mastered, it’s walking out on their responsibilities in court. Yesterday, the Justice Department sent its Plan B appeal to the same dust heap as its DOMA defense, telling reporters that it would give up its legal campaign after a couple of recent setbacks. The administration’s policy, which for two years had been the only thing standing between little girls and a powerful birth control drug, is now a thing of the past, as Health and Human Services (HHS) officially bows out of the battle so many parents willed it to keep fighting. The sudden surrender by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius means that the controversial and potent morning-after pill will be available to anyone — of any age — without a prescription.
Before Monday, the administration took a lot of heat for pitting itself against the President’s closest allies — radical feminists and abortion groups who object to even the slightest restrictions on “contraception.” In a letter to U.S. District Judge Edward Korman, who authored the scathing ruling against Sebelius’s policy, the government’s attorneys promised to step aside and allow unlimited sales. As soon as the manufacturers submit a new drug application, the FDA promises to fast-track the pills to drugstore shelves.
Initially, the DOJ had asked Korman to suspend his ruling until an appeals court could weigh in — which it did last week. And although the judges’ decision was an obstacle, there were plenty of legal options to overcome it. Instead, the President dropped the case — along with the facade of concern.
Judge Korman, like President Obama, has two children. Yet neither man seems overly concerned that the drug they’re both endorsing has never been tested on pre-teen and adolescent girls. Judge Korman called HHS’s policy “scientifically unjustified,” when in fact, the only thing that’s scientifically unjustified is the effect of these high doses of hormones on young girls. The FDA hasn’t conducted a single study on Plan B’s risks to girls under 17 — but as far as liberals are concerned, nothing should hinder access to anything related to sex, including personal safety.
There was one reaction to this story that I wanted to quote here:
Janice Crouse, also of CWFA, responded: “Once again, those who yell the loudest about caring about the nation’s children and youth applaud a decision to place our kids in a special interest experiment. Plan B, popularly called the ‘morning-after pill’ is a much-higher-dosage version of the regular birth control pill (which used to require a doctor’s prescription and continued doctor’s supervision). 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. 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.”
She added: “This is a political decision, made by those who stand to profit financially from an action that puts ideology ahead of the nation’s girls and young women. Where is the scientific data and solid reasoning behind a decision that endangers minors?”
Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America also weighed in on the decision.
She told LifeNews: “President Obama is waging a War on Girls by allowing young children to get Plan B without a physician or parent’s care or knowledge. The morning after pill is a megadose of the birth-control pill, which has been categorized by the World Health Organization as a Group I carcinogen. That’s the highest possible ranking – cigarettes are also in Group I. So why are drugstores required to put cigarettes behind the counter and ask for a photo id to stop minors from purchasing them, but President Obama is now ordering the morning after pill be sold over the counter, next to candy bars and packs of gum? This is not reproductive justice, this is child abuse.”
Just to be clear, according to the drug manufacturer, Plan B does cause abortions in some situations by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg.
WINTERY KNIGHT 