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CWA’s Crouse Calls Over-the-Counter Plan B Beyond-the-Pale 8/23/2006 Washington, D.C. − Concerned Women for America’s (CWA’s) Dr. Janice Crouse, Senior Fellow of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, responded to President Bush’s endorsement of Plan B, the morning after pill, by calling it “beyond the pale.” In a press conference on Monday, the President announced his support of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach’s attempt to make this high dose of birth control available over-the-counter (OTC) for girls over 18. CWA strongly opposes making this drug available without a prescription because of its medical risks and the inability of the FDA to enforce an age restriction.
Crouse said, “Since birth control pills require a prescription and a doctor’s supervision during use, how can the FDA or the drug manufacturer condone providing Plan B (a mega-dose of the same drugs) over-the-counter? Widespread access to Plan B would expose women to the health risks that here-to-fore were acknowledged by doctors who screened women before prescribing birth control pills and then monitored them for the wide variety of contra-indicators for their use.
“Of equal concern is the fact that any 18-year-old could buy Plan B OTC and give it to anyone else –– even underage girls –– without parental consent or knowledge. The ramifications of such distribution include sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. The amount of misinformation about Plan B is astounding. Those advocating OTC availability are touting the drug as a “silver bullet” for birth control. Yet, the easy availability that would come with OTC sales extends to those who are incapable of understanding the risks involved in any high-potency drug.
“The legal can-of-worms that Plan B unleashes is equally troubling. When something goes wrong, as it inevitably will, where will the victims turn? To the drug store? The Pharmacist? Barr Laboratories? The FDA? Sadly, there will be no recourse for those who fall victim to this social experiment. America’s women and girls are, once again, subjected to medical experimentation at the urging of those who want to be free of the consequences from sexual promiscuity regardless of the cost to their own or other women’s health and well-being."
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