Over The Counter, From The Bench, In The Face

A federal judge has scrapped the Obama administration's FDA rules on Plan B contraception being available over the counter, ordering it be made available without age restrictions.

Judge Edward R. Korman, in the case of birth control activist Annie Tummino vs. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, ruled in a highly critical 59-page opinion, “This case has proven to be particularly controversial because it involves access to emergency contraception for adolescents who should not be engaging in conduct that necessitates the use of such drugs and because of the scientifically unsupported speculation that the drug could interfere with implantation of fertilized eggs. Nevertheless, the issue in this case involves the interpretation of a general statutory and regulatory scheme relating to the approval of drugs for over-the-counter sale. The standards are the same for aspirin and for contraceptives. While the FDA properly recognizes that cognitive and behavioral differences undermine ‘the ability of adolescents to make reasoned decisions about engaging in sexual intercourse,’ the standard for determining whether contraceptives or any other drug should be available over-the-counter turns solely on the ability of the consumer to understand how to use the particular drug ‘safely and effectively.’”

Judge Korman's opinion is fairly brutal, basically saying that the ruling was entirely political and "without scientific basis".  Which it was, this was one of the calls President Obama got 100% wrong, and I was far from the only one who called him out on it.

He blasted Sebelius’ decision as blatantly political, saying, “even with eyes shut to the motivation for the Secretary’s decision, the reasons she provided are so unpersuasive as to call into question her good faith” and that “she has failed to offer a coherent justification for denying the over-the-counter sale of levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives to the overwhelming majority of women of all ages who may have need for those drugs and who are capable of understanding their correct use.”

The government will mostly likely appeal this ruling, and stupidily, it will go before SCOTUS.  Who knows what they'll do with it, but don't expect Plan B to be available for years, if ever, to those under 18.