Scientific Interference Continues

In a long overdue concession to science, the
Food and Drug Administration could finally, grudgingly, be ready to allow an emergency contraceptive to be sold without a doctor's prescription.
Scientists long ago concluded that the "morning-after pill," marketed as Plan B, is both effective and safe enough to be sold over the counter without restriction. Seventy leading medical and public health groups have told the agency so for years. The pill lowers the risk of pregnancy by nearly 90% when taken within 72 hours of sex and could cut in half the nation's 3 million unintended pregnancies each year.
But rather than follow the medical evidence, as it is mandated to do, FDA has catered to groups that believe, without convincing evidence, that Plan B promotes teen promiscuity and causes abortions. Even some ardent abortion foes reject the latter claim.
Now the rules might be about to change. FDA announced Monday that it's willing to consider making Plan B available over the counter, on request, to women 18 and older.
The reason for the shift is no mystery. Acting FDA chief Andrew von Eschenbach is up for Senate confirmation, and an FDA spokesman acknowledged that von Eschenbach didn't want to spend Tuesday's hearing defending FDA's prior actions.

In related matters, the new HPV vaccine for women was recently approved by the FDA after much opposition by the religious right. Opponents of the vaccine argued, similarly to the morning after pill, that it would promote promiscuity in teens. So they would rather continue teaching abstinence instead of letting science better the lives of young women and save thousands of lives each year. For more on the vaccine and how it works, click on the link to The National Cancer Institute's press release.

http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/HPVStatement