FDA to revisit ‘morning-after’ pill age limit

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to re-evaluate its age restriction on the nonprescription sale of Plan B, making it possible for preteens to have access to a “morning-after” pill that has abortion-causing qualities.

In his March 23 ruling, Judge Edward Korman of New York directed the FDA to make the drug available over the counter to 17-year-olds within 30 days. He also instructed the agency to decide “whether to approve Plan B for over-the-counter status without age or point-of-sale restrictions.” The FDA has the expertise to determine whether Plan B “may be used safely without a prescription by children as young as 11 or 12,” he wrote in a 52-page opinion.

Before Korman’s decision, Plan B was available without a prescription for use by women 18 and older. Females 17 and under needed a prescription, a requirement for women of all ages until a rule change in 2006.

Plan B is basically a heavier dose of birth control pills. Under the regimen, a woman takes two pills within 72 hours of sexual intercourse and another dose 12 hours later. The drug, known as the “morning-after” pill or “emergency contraception,” works to restrict ovulation in a woman. It also can act after conception, thereby causing an abortion, pro-lifers point out. This mechanism of the drug blocks implantation of a tiny embryo in the uterine wall.