Washington, D.C. — Today, Jessica Arons, Director of the Women’s Health and Rights Program at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement in response to the Department of Health and Human Services’s decision to keep Plan B One-Step emergency contraception behind the pharmacy counter and off of store shelves:
Today’s decision by the Department of Health and Human Services is a frustrating example of politics trumping science. The Food and Drug Administration was set to remove the age restriction on Plan B One-Step but Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled that decision.
Access to safe, reliable contraception is an essential part of basic health care for women. Planned pregnancies result in better health outcomes and clear economic and social benefits for women and their families.
Leading medical organizations and the FDA agree that emergency contraception is safe and simple enough for anyone to use. Removing the unnecessary age restriction would have allowed females of all ages to be able to find Plan B One-Step on the shelf without delay, confusion, or embarrassment. But instead, the needless barriers to preventing pregnancy after sex will remain in place and will only contribute to the United States having one of the highest unintended pregnancy rates in the industrialized world.
To speak to Jessica Arons about this topic, contact Katie Peters at [email protected] or 202.741.6286.
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