As the FDA prepared to make Plan B more readily available by lifting the age limit and making it the nation’s first over-the-counter emergency contraceptive, the nation’s health secretary shocked many yesterday by restricting such changes.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius effectively stopped Plan B from moving on to drugstore shelves near other contraceptives. Instead, the same regulations will continue to apply to the contraceptive- it will be available without a prescription for those who are 17 and older who provide proper ID documenting their age.
Sebelius said in a statement: “It is common knowledge that there are significant cognitive and behavioral differences between older adolescent girls and the youngest girls of reproductive age. I do not believe enough data were presented to support the application to make Plan B One-Step available over-the-counter for all girls of reproductive age.”
