Sixteen Months After the Mourning After

The second-ever post on my new attempt at blogging was a Bronx cheer for the Obama administration's decision to overrule the unanimous recommendation of the scientific advisory board of the Food and Drug Administration and refuse to allow Plan B One-Step, the morning after contraceptive, to be sold to girls under 17 without a prescription. The decision was announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, but President Obama publicly supported the move, describing it as “common sense” (which, of course, trumps science every time).

Yesterday, Federal Judge Edward Korman of the Eastern District of New York overturned Sebelius's decision, ruling that the morning after pill must be made available over the counter to girls of all ages. In a sharply-worded decision, he said, “(T)he secretary's action was politically motivated, scientifically unjustified, and contrary to agency precedent.”

The petition to make the morning-after pill universally available was orginally filed in 2001. Judge Korman accused both the Bush and Obama administrations of acting in “bad faith” by delaying action on the petitition for over a decade. “Indeed, it could be accurately described as an administrative agency filibister,” he said.

Needless to say, the judge's decision was applauded by women's groups and criticized by the religious right. However, the prize for the most illogical response goes to the Catholic Church. A spokeswoman for the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops claimed, “Plan B does not prevent or treat any disease, but makes young adolescent girls more available to sexual predators.” How's that again? 

Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday that the President still supports Secretary Sebelius's decision. The Justice Department must now decide whether to appeal. The ball is in your court, Mr. Black Republican.