the FDA stonewalls

Robin, from Girl in the Locker Room, sends this NYT article on the FDA's footdragging on 'Plan B' or, 'the Morning After Pill.'

This pill is a safe and effective way for women to prevent an unwanted pregnancy if conventional contraception has failed. The FDA is, by law, required to give a rationale for approving or dissapproving its "over-the-counter" availabilty at some point. GOP obstruction at the FDA sends a clear message: they're letting their right-wing religious base control and stall the approval of this pill.

The abortion opponents in George Bush's base see this pill as tantamount to abortion. In their view, every woman should, by law, be required to take even a potential pregnancy to full term from the moment of conception. In this instance, they oppose the use of a pill that is medically nothing more than a concentrated dose of conventional birth control, and which would act in much the same way: a pill whose widespread availability would likely reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

Most Americans wouldn't agree with that view. Most Americans don't want Pat Robertson to have a say in their health care. But that's exactly what's happening right now.

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