Local Reaction To FDA’s New Rules on Plan B – Part One

The audio of the story as broadcast.

Right now, Plan B One-Step is available to women 17 and over.

It can only be purchased from a pharmacy.

Anyone younger than 17 requires a prescription.

In April, a federal judge ordered the FDA to lift those restrictions.

Barring any further legal action, the emergency contraceptive could soon be sold over-the-counter  to anyone 15 or older – regardless if the onsite pharmacy is open or not.

“I feel like we’re stepping into a new day, I feel like we’re coming from behind the shadows.”

Monica Simpson is the executive director of the Atlanta-based Sister Song, a reproductive justice group.

Part of Sister Song’s mission is to educate women of color on reproductive and sexual health rights.

Simpson says making Plan B available to those 15 and over should not be viewed as promoting risky or irresponsible sexual behavior.

“So it’s necessary for us to understand that one these children are having sex. And this is the way for us to help women [young women] be able to possibly make a decision that would allow them to take a different course in their life.”

According to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the makers of Plan B, it is intended to prevent pregnancy after known or suspected birth control failure … or unprotected sex.

It does not, according to the drug maker, harm an existing pregnancy.

Note: Tomorrow on All Things Considered, an opposing viewpoint regarding the emergency contraceptive Plan B.