Science at Last Trumps Ideology and Politics

It’s been a way too long time coming, and who knows how many thousands of women women have been denied access to reproductive health care they needed during the delay?

But good news: Today, a federal District Court ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted improperly when it “repeatedly and unreasonably” dragged its heels and failed to issue a decision on emergency contraception (EC), and that there was no basis in science (not to mention the FDA’s own expert advisors) to have denied over-the-counter sales of EC to those aged 17 and under.

Emergency contraception is simply a high dose of birth control pills–contraception–that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring if taking within 72 hours after unprotected intercourse. Predictability groups that oppose birth control labeled EC an abortifacient and alleged that access to it would “cause” promiscuity–an old canard about as reasonable as blaming fire engines for causing fires. If a woman is pregnant already, EC won’t work, nor will it damage a fetus. The worst side effect that has been determined after decades of use is nausea.

From RHRealityCheck’s report on today’s court ruling:

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WHO IS JOHN McCAIN? Hint: Not a Moderate, in Case You Were Wondering

Jake Tapper, ABC News Senior National Correspondent, in his blog “Political Punch” June 27 post “McCain Gambles with Awkward Joke” started a bit of a blog-o-flap among some feminists who though the senator’s remark about wife beating grossly inappropriate and perhaps insensitive to domestic abuse. Here’s the relevant excerpt:

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was asked by columnist Jon Ralston why he didn’t choose Gov. Jim Gibbons to chair his Nevada campaign…
Maybe it’s the governor’s approval rating and you are running from him like you are from the president? Asked Ralston in a question McCain clearly found loaded.
Said McCain, chuckling, “And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago.”
Some have found the subject of McCain’s joke — wife-beating — inappropriate.
To be clear, McCain was alluding to the fictitious leading question “When did you stop beating your wife, senator?” It’s a bit of distasteful DC yuckery so commonly quoted it’s hackneyed.
But considering the subject McCain was discussing at the time, to allude to that joke was, well, …..awkward!
Gov. Gibbons last month filed for divorce from his wife Dawn citing incompatiblity…

There are several issues here and I’ll take a moment to sort them out:

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EC for EW (Emergency Contraception for Every Woman Who Needs It When She Needs It)

Note: given the news about the FDA’s current proposal to allow plan B Emergency Contraception (EC) to be sold over the counter—BUT with requirements that women under age 18 must have a prescription and that pharmacists must keep all EC behind the counter thus making it more difficult for women of any age to access, I thought a brief reminder of what EC is and why it should be fully accessible to all who need it is in order.

Want to reduce abortions by half? Want to know who is keeping the means from American women?

The topic is emergency contraception—EC for short. You might have heard it called the morning after pill. It’s birth control—just basic birth control pills in a formulation that can prevent pregnancy from occurring if used within 120 hours after intercourse.

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