Exactly how important are the President's judicial nominees? In New York, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman provides a perfect example. Yesterday, the Brooklyn-based Korman unleashed a 52-page order that overrides the judgment of the entire U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The lawsuit involves the availability of Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, to minors. In 2006, over FRC's objections, the FDA agreed to make the drug (which can act as an abortifacient) accessible to women 18 and older without a prescription.
Since then, FRC has led the opposition to this "compromise," arguing that it's illegal--and unprecedented--to make a drug available over-the-counter to some based on their age. Together with Concerned Women for America and the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, we challenged the FDA's dual approval status in court.
Meanwhile, Judge Korman--who is not a physician--has substituted his personal opinion for that of the FDA's 8,100 experts, demanding that Plan B be made available on pharmacy shelves to any 17-year-old girl. What's worse, Korman has asked the FDA to consider making the drug available to girls of any age without so much as a doctor's visit or phone call home. In his rebuke to the FDA, Korman says the decision to ban minors from accessing Plan B over-the-counter is motivated by "political and ideological" arguments--but that's exactly how we described Senator Hillary Clinton's 2005 campaign to make the pills available without a prescription!
The bottom line is that Korman's ruling endangers girls' health and parents' rights. As experts point out, the FDA has been unable to prove that a high dosage and repeated use of Plan B is safe for women or teens in the long-term. Bear in mind that even birth control pills, which are essentially a lower dose of Plan B, require a doctor's prescription. By taking parents and physicians out of the decision-making process, Judge Korman puts these women at higher risk of medical complications.
In countries where the morning-after pill is not regulated, sexually transmitted disease rates have skyrocketed. Rather than abstain, couples use the drug as a fallback for unprotected sex. While it can eliminate pregnancy, Plan B doesn't provide the same retroactive protection for disease. There's also a real danger that the morning-after pill may be given to sexually abused women and minors without their consent. We regret that despite the facts, Korman decided not to defend the safety of vulnerable teens.
Contact: Tony Perkins
Source: Family Research Council
Source URL: http://www.frc.org
Publish Date: March 24, 2009
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