16 The Queens Courier • april 11, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com NO PRESCRIPTION REQUIRED JUDGE RULES FOR REMOVAL OF MORNING-AFTER PILL AGE LIMITS BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected] A recent federal ruling has made Plan B, also known as the morningafter pill, more accessible, removing the prescription requirement for girls under 17 years old. In his decision, issued on Friday, April 5, U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman said that the emergency contraceptive “would be among the safest drugs sold over the counter,” adding “the FDA permits drugs that it has found to be unsafe for the pediatric population to be sold over the counter subject only to labeling restrictions.” Individuals and groups advocating reproductive-rights filed the lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its commissioner, Margaret Hamburg. Korman also said in his ruling that the FDA “engaged in intolerable delays in processing” a citizen’s petition seeking to make Plan B available over the counter to all ages. The issue of access to Plan B has been controversial since it was approved for non-prescription use. The pill must be taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy. Some worry about its use as a regular birth control method, while others are concerned that it will lead to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. But supporters of Plan B view its availability as a basic right females should have over their bodies. “National Women’s Liberation NWL believes that any female old enough to get pregnant is old enough to decide that she doesn’t want to be pregnant. This decision to grant immediate access to the morning-after pill is a huge step forward in the fight for women and girls to be able to control the course of their lives,” Stephanie Seguin, one of the suit’s plaintiffs and a member of NWL told the women’s rights group. The FDA reportedly has 30 days to appeal the ruling. The ruling is “an ongoing legal matter for the agency” said an FDA spokesperson, and it has no additional comment at this time. Photo courtesy Teva Women’s Health, Inc. A federal judge ordered the FDA to make Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, available without a prescription to all ages. I believe that if I had gone anywhere but to Winthrop that day, I wouldn’t be sitting here now. One day, Joan’s passion for sports, and a chronically bad back, finally caught up with her. First, she noticed numbness in her legs. Then, no feeling at all. She was terrified. But she remembered that her father-in-law had been treated by an amazing neurosurgeon at Winthrop-University Hospital. Her husband drove her straight there. Emergency tests showed Joan needed complex, extremely delicate spinal surgery. Right away. Or she might never be able to walk, or even sit on a stool, again. Winthrop’s neurosurgery team removed portions of Joan’s spine to relieve pressure on her spinal cord. And rebuilt it using chips of her own bone, not rods and screws. Today Joan will tell anyone who’ll listen two things. First, your health means everything. And getting to the right hospital, right away, can make all the difference. Learn more at winthrop.org. For a physician referral, call 1.866.WINTHROP. 259 F irst S t reet, M ineola, N ew York 1 1501 • 1 .866.WINTHROP • w inthrop.org “ “ VISIT QueensCourier.com TELL US WHAT YOU THINK...
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