A U.S. Federal District judge has ruled that girls as young as 13 should be able to access the morning-after pill over the counter and without parental consent.
Up until now, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required girls under 17 to have a prescription to access the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B, which prevents ovulation and the implantation of fertilized eggs.
Protection removed
New York Judge Edward Korman labelled the restriction “capricious” and struck down the rule, removing protective restrictions and allowing young girls access to a drug that has not been proven completely safe.
Judge “thinks he knows better”
The Population Research Institute (PRI), a non-profit research group, has criticized the ruling. Its president, Steven Mosher, commented in a press release:
“This federal judge apparently thinks that he knows better than (1) parents, (2) the Food and Drug Administration, and (3) society at large whether it is good for 13-year-old girls to be able to buy abortifacient drugs like the Morning After Pill.
“When Plan B fails to prevent ovulation, it works by preventing implantation. This means that it causes early-term abortions. By allowing young girls access to this drug, they will be able to contracept and abort themselves without their parents ever knowing.”
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