A federal judge has ruled that the government must make the most common morning-after pill available over the counter for all ages, instead of requiring a prescription for girls 16 and younger.
The decision, on a fraught and politically controversial subject, comes after a decade-long fight over who should have access to the pill and under what circumstances. And it counteracts an unprecedented move by the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, who in 2011 overruled a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration to make the pill available for all ages without a prescription.
In a decision in a lawsuit filed by advocates, the judge, Edward R. Korman of Federal District Court, ruled that the government’s refusal to lift restrictions on access to the pill was “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”
Judge Korman ordered the F.D.A. to lift any age and sale restrictions on the pill, Plan B One-Step, and its generic versions, within 30 days.
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND AWESOME NEWS. However, we still have questions:
If you have insight into either of these questions, hit us up. Also remember that just because this ruling happened doesn’t mean there won’t be a ridiculously long and drawn out appeal process. In the meantime, check out the PSA for Emergency Contraception we wrote around the time that HHS struck down the FDA’s recommendation to make EC available OTC.
In the US, women age 17 and over have the legal right to get emergency contraception — sometimes called Plan B or “the morning after pill — over the counter and without a prescription at their pharmacy.
However, according to a new roundtable report by the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center, this right is often denied to Native American women who use Indian Health Services to access healthcare. The report surveyed service providers on reservations across the nation and found women are often told they have to see a doctor or have a prescription to get EC. Some find that the pill isn’t in stock on their reservation.
This is especially alarming in light of the fact that 1 in 3 Native American women will be raped in their lifetime. Under current Indian Health Services policy, there isn’t even a consistent mechanism to provide survivors of rape and sexual assault the medication they need to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.
There’s a simple fix to this problem. Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, the Director of Indian Health Services, can issue a directive to all service providers that emergency contraception be made available on demand — without a prescription and without having to see a doctor — to any woman age 17 or over who asks for it.
Please sign this petition to ask Dr. Roubideaux to issue this directive and to alert the Department of Health and Human Services, which has oversight over her and IHS, to the situation. Native women deserve and demand equal access to basic reproductive health care!
If you are 17 or older, you can get Plan B without a prescription. If the pharmacist or pharmacy tech says you can’t, they are wrong. If you live in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Vermont, or Washington, some pharmacists can prescribe and dispense EC even if you are under 17. Call your local pharmacist to see if they are licensed to do this.
There are some states (Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, and South Dakota) where pharmacies/pharmacists can refuse to dispense Plan B on “religious or moral grounds.” If you live in one of these states (or even if you don’t) this document from the National Women’s Law Center has great information on what to do if you are refused EC or BC.
It’s not a bad idea to keep a box or two of EC handy, even if you live in a state that’s generally liberal about EC dispersal. EC is expensive (it runs $50-$60 OTC in New York), but if you have health insurance and get an advance rx from your doctor or from a clinic like Planned Parenthood, it’s often covered by your insurance like any other prescription. Having EC on hand also stops you from having to deal with power tripping pharmacists and from stressing out about getting to a pharmacy in time.
For more info on Plan B, including safe use, pharmacy & clinic locators, and rates of effectiveness, click here.
