Morning-after pill now available to teens without a prescription after judge lifts over-the-counter age restrictions
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For girls under age 17, a prescription will no longer be required to purchase the morning-after pill.
A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. government must make the most common morning-after pill, Plan B, available over-the-counter for all ages.
The politically controversial decision comes after a decade-long fight over who should have access to the pill, which prevents ovulation for 72 hours after unprotected sex, and under what circumstances.
All-age access: For girls under 17, a prescription will no longer be required to purchase the morning-after pill
Unlike the abortion pill, which is designed to terminate a pregnancy, the morning-after pill is emergency contraception use to prevent pregnancy after unprotected intercourse.
The availability of the pill has continued to be a fraught topic between women, congress, religious leaders, and conservatives who have spent years debating whether or not it is in fact a form of abortion.
And the latest decision counteracts an unprecedented move by the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services secretary, who in 2011 overruled a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration to make the pill available for all ages without a prescription.
Kathleen Sebelius blocked the move, deciding that young girls shouldn't be able to buy it on their own.
Sebelius said that while young girls are physically capable of bearing children, they might not properly understand how to use the emergency contraception without guidance from an adult.
But now, age restrictions on over the counter access to the morning-after pill have been lifted after a six-year legal battle by the National Women’s Liberation against the Food and Drug Administration and Health and Human Services.
All-access: A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. government must make the most common morning-after pill, Plan B, available over-the-counter for all ages
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2005 by Annie Tummino, a leader of the National Women’s Liberation-New York chapter.
She said last month: 'The restrictions on the Morning-After Pill are a sexist insult and lessen women and girls’ ability to control the course of our lives.
'The morning-after Pill should be available to females of all ages, on the shelf at any convenience store, just like aspirin or condoms.'
The pill is available without a prescription in at least 63 other countries, including the UK, France, Australia, Denmark and Ghana.
Mostly used by women who are worried about a broken condom or nervous their birth control method had failed, a federal survey of sexually active females aged 15 to 44 found that 11per cent reported using a morning-after pill.
Released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2011, the study was based on in-person interviews of more than 12,000 women in 2006 through 2010.
Among its findings, the report revealed that 99per cent of sexually active women use some form of birth control - with 82 percent using birth control pills and 93per cent using a condom.
At least five versions of the morning-after pill are sold in the U.S. at a cost of between $35 to $60 per dose, depending on the brand.
However if women want the pill covered by insurance, they will still need to acquire a prescription.
The Affordable Care Act promises to cover the morning-after pill, meaning no co-pays, but only with a prescription.
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