In a monumental decision, the Obama administration has announced tonight that the Justice Department will no longer pursue its decision to overturn the ruling that made Plan B available for all. When Judge Edward R. Korman initially ruled in favor of granting universal access to the morning-after pill, he suggested that the FDA had presented unreasonable delays in providing proof that the pill could be harmful, and that the original decision to make it for girls of a certain age was politically motivated.
The Justice Department immediately challenged Korman's ruling (since it overturned something put into place by the Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius), but tonight it decided to drop the appeal process. According to the New York Times, the FDA (and not the Justice Department) released a straight-forward statement that read: "To comply with the order, the FDA has asked the manufacturer of Plan B One-Step to submit a supplemental application seeking approval of the one-pill product to be made available O.T.C. without any such restrictions. Once the FDA receives that supplemental application, the FDA intends to approve it promptly.”
No word yet on what prompted them to drop the case, but we'll update as it unfolds. (NYT)
Photo: Courtesy of Plan B One Step